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leos-regression-cove · 2 years

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Nothing in the Parenting Books Prepared Me For This

56. Spa Day

Synopsis: After such a horrible day, Mobius and Loki decide to make a spa day.

Word count: 4,875

Stand Alone?: sure!

Warnings: alcohol, feet, fluctuating headspaces, accidental blood/violence, the author doesn't know what he's talking about half the time, minor swearing, diapers/wetting

Notes:

Read it on AO3!

Loki was up and crying again this morning, but at least it wasn’t for nothing. The poor little guy’s nappy hadn’t held up during the night; drinking two bottles right before bed and eating nothing throughout the day, paired with sleeping on his side, hadn’t exactly set him up for success with that one. Most of the urine wasn’t dried, but had gone cold as the lower half of his onesie, his blankets, and the sheets were drenched.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kitty,” Mobius sighed sympathetically, as he got the little up and wiped his tears away. But instead of carrying the toddler, Mobius had him walk, just a few feet up to the changing table, where Loki laid down.

“Daddy mad?” he asked as Mobius unsnapped his onesie and tried to take it off without getting any pee on himself or Loki’s dry skin.

“Nah, I’m not mad, bud,” he said a little bit tiredly. “I’m just recovering from yesterday.”

“Oh…” Loki looked away and seemed a little bit guilty. “Um, daddy care?”

“You know I love you both,” Mobius added, giving Loki a kiss on the cheek.

“No, silly! Daddy take care? Like um, daddy baf an’...” Loki took a second to search for the word he wanted, wiggling his fingers and playing with his hands to try to mime it out. “Pain’ nails?”

“Oh, you want me to have a spa day?”

“Yah, daddy take care,” Loki agreed, tapping Mobius’ shoulder lovingly as the adult taped the new nappy on and got Loki into a comfy cotton romper, clipping a pacifier to the tot’s shirt.

In the next structure over, Sylvie had her thumb stuck in her mouth, her face planted firmly in Thor’s chest, with his chin resting directly on top of her head, perfectly comfortably.

“Seevee!” She heard Loki running out of the cabin, slamming the back door.

“There’s Loki,” Thor yawned as he got up.

The little outside rapt on the door just as Mobius was stepping out behind him.

Thor opened it up while Sylvie hid under her blankets. “Pretend I’m not here,” she whispered.

“Um hi Tor! Come play an’ Seevee?”

“She’s under the blankets.”

“Hi Seevee! Come play?” Loki asked as he peeked under the blankets at her. “Seevee make pwetty? Please?”

“Loki,” Thor sighed, pulling his brother away. “You’re already pretty.”

“No, no wait, I wanna play,” Sylvie decided after realizing Loki had seemingly forgotten about yesterday’s troubles.

“Ok. Daddy needs a relax an’ so we, too!” he grinned. “Tor relax?”

“Yes, yes, of course, I’ll come play with you both.”

Sylvie gave Mobius a hug after he caught up. “Are you gonna help?-- Can we help?” she asked.

“Ah, I dunno sugar-bug,” he hesitated. “I love you both but I think I need some daddy time.”

“Aw! You took ‘daddy time’ the other day when you left us with Kate and Yelena!”

“I was at work, I wouldn’t call that personal time…”

Sylvie bit her tongue at that. He was right and she knew it. “Okay,” she huffed.

“Hey, you can still help, but if you do we’re gonna have quiet time, okay?”

“Ew.” Loki stuck out his tongue.

“I know, we’re not big on quiet, are we?”

Both of the littles very loudly agreed that they were not the types for silence unless it was dramatic or strategic silence.

Thor stepped in right about then. “Let’s let your daddy have his time, then,” he sighed, petting each of the littles on the back.

“Okay.” Sylvie smiled back up at him, “but I’m gonna do your nails! They need work.”

Thor used to keep himself so well groomed, but as he looked down at Sylvie’s observations of his fingers, he couldn’t help but agree. Now that he didn’t have his palace servants, noting his every routine or need, even when he didn’t, his nails and hands had been damaged and left in a neglected state.

As Sylvie collected everything she’d need for the day, she momentarily took on a more mature position and played the responsible adult, taking care of Loki and preparing all the materials she needed.

Meanwhile, Loki did what he could to help, poking in and out of the bathroom and nursery to gather everything vaguely self-care related he could find and dumping it on the dining table.

“Woah woah, save some for me bud,” Mobius told him, taking his shampoo and soap back to the bathroom.

“Bunny, we just want the stuff for our nails and hair, okay? I’ll give you a bath later!” Sylvie yelled from another room.

“Baf!” Loki agreed.

Thor scooped the little one up and brought him back to the living room. “Such a good boy,” he said, letting the little burrow into him. “Getting all of the supplies ready.”

“Yeah! No yuck,” he smiled.

“I think by the end of this we’re both going to be all clean and calm.”

Sylvie looked at her phone and compared her personal list to what Loki had collected. She seemed to have different ideas than little Loki about what was necessary, though.

She made sure to find bowls and tubs, or asked Loki to bring some into existence, as well as a cucumber and some vaguely blue-green cream in a bowl that he told her was clay face-mask cream.

“Seevee!” Loki addressed her, leaning on the table as Sylvie pondered over it, wondering what she was forgetting. “Seevee play? Seevee start?”

“Soon, but I think we’re forgetting one last thing.”

“Thor, do you have a robe?” Sylvie asked while getting Loki dressed into his sage green bathrobe and checking on the pull-up underneath it. Her’s was also fleece, but it was black, not green, and seemed to have spiral designs shaved into the nap of the fur.

“Uh.. not a bathrobe, but I do have a robe,” Thor answered.

“Bring it to Loki, he’ll make it a proper bathrobe for you. We want you to be comfortable, yeah?”

Thor brought his baby brother his long, red vest-jacket-thingy. It was comfortable, but admittedly, didn’t serve much of a purpose for him. “Can you make this a bathrobe for me? Like yours?” he asked.

Loki nodded and, poof, there it was, a deep red Turkish velour robe, comfortably snug around Thor’s body.

Mobius, in the bathroom, heated up the water for a nice bath and listened with his ear against the door to his family making their own spa day outside.

As he cleaned the tub to his liking and began to fill it up, he undressed and wrapped a towel around his waist before sitting down on the lid of the toilet and opening a book up for himself, knowing it would be some time before the large soaker tub was full. He also eyed his glass of brandy he had poured before coming in, checking to make sure that the ice in it didn’t immediately melt as the room swelled with steam

Soon, he got into the bath. It was not one of the nice ones Loki made for him sometimes, with rose petals and candles, but it was still enjoyable.

He sat in the soaker tub, letting the steam fill his lungs, and for a moment he heard no loud noise, even though the bathroom window was open; just the fluffy harmonics of birdsong and tree rustling. He felt a little bit silly and self indulgent to a ridiculous degree for using a little bit of Loki and Sylvie’s bottle of lavender-chamomile bubble-bath but, damn, if it didn’t feel wonderful.

He let out a long breath and set down his drink on a dining chair he had moved into the room earlier, before slinking all the way down into the water, getting bubbles and water in his mustache.

Sylvie organized the table with Loki and Thor’s help, deciding what they’d do in which order. They eventually settled on a top-down method, which was possibly one of the worst methods they could have agreed upon.

As Thor sat down on the couch with them, Sylvie handed him a brush and turned away, sitting sideways.

Loki handed her one as well, an antique metal one with intricate designs, as he scrunched backwards into her lap.

“So who’s going to brush mine?” Thor asked.

“I will!” Loki grinned back at him.

“And I’ll help, too. You have the best hair for styling,” Sylvie calmly responded. If Loki and Thor had to make their guesses, she was probably seven right now, perhaps eight. A subtle headspace slip which was hardly noticeable unless you were looking for it. “Just wait your turn.”

Thor did exactly that as he brushed Sylvie’s hair and she played with Loki’s.

Even though Sylvie couldn’t see the little one’s face, she could feel that he was beaming with pride and rather enjoying the feeling of a brush along his scalp, like he always did.

She was not as gentle or patient with the brush as Mobius was, but she did what she could, and tried to be very tender, gently getting the tangles out towards the tips before working her way up and brushing his roots, twisting the strands in her fingers and hoping the curls which she created would stay.

Thor was the best at doing hair, the very best.

Sylvie had a basic idea, Loki was competent when big, and Mobius had read up a few books and had played around with trial and error after taking the girls, but Thor, Thor had kept his hair generally longer than Loki’s and often had to put it up when fighting, while Loki could simply chose which style to have at any given moment. Loki still always chose to keep his hair shoulder length or longer, and in those cases, only a small bun was necessitated, but Thor did not have these abilities and needed to braid, bun, or ponytail his hair almost constantly, and after a good thousand-and-a-half years of that, he had definitely learned some basics.

Sylvie’s hair was much shorter than he was used to, so he couldn’t do much in the way of braiding. He simply put it up in the way she liked it, with a pulled back bun on the top of her hair, and the rest of it down on the sides and back, and added a nice headband for her on the top.

Thor’s own hair took much longer, it always did, as it was long, constantly needed to be brushed, and, like Sylvie’s, seemed to constantly have a thin layer of dirt and dust over the top of it that needed to be washed out. In short, it was a dream to work with for the littles, who loved to braid, and put it up, and accessorize. They did it almost every opportunity that they got, which made it entirely within the norm, and not something too special for their little spa day.

Admittedly, they didn’t take as long as usual to style Thor’s hair into some wonderful beehive or beachy waves, but instead, they made a big fishtail, interwoven with colorful ribbons that Loki provided, and a big, gaudy, red bow which gathered it all together.

This was mostly because there was something novel and interesting which awaited them on the other side of this culturally significant and comforting, communal grooming task which was usually so highly valued for Loki and Sylvie, as they hadn’t been able to partake in it for much of their lives. However, regardless of the emotional importance of this traditional activity, Loki and Sylvie couldn’t help but find it slightly overshadowed.

Sylvie hopped up when she felt like the hair portion was done, and proudly marched over to the kitchen with Loki on her heels, excited to help, as she began to prepare for cutting the cucumber for face masks.

“No, Loki. Move. I’m using a knife. It’s sharp. Go sit over there,” she said very seriously without looking up from the cutting board.

The presence behind her remained.

“Loki, go! Go sit with Thor,” she barked a little stronger this time.

Loki whined to let her know where he was. He was actually standing, bracing against the back of the couch and watching a calming video of aquarium fish on TV with music halfway across the room.

Upon connecting these dots, Sylvie whirled around to look at him and check what the presence was, making the mistake of turning her whole body and not just her head.

Her hand was stopped by something, but not in a hard-stop kind of way.-- There was a bit of resistance, and then the inertia finished running its course.

She paused and her eyes widened.

She mouthed a swear.

Thor however, didn’t seem too bothered, a little bit annoyed, maybe disappointed, but not outwardly angry that there was a small, sharp, kitchen knife in his side. He looked down at it. “I guess I should’ve expected that…” he said. “Impressive it took either of you this long.” He spoke calmly and quietly, but with a small amount of bemused anxiety.

Sylvie turned bright red. “S-sorry,” she sputtered as if more embarrassed than genuinely apologetic.

“It’s alright. Go get some bandages and the brown bottle thingy for me.”

Sylvie nodded, and ran away to the bathroom, the free one, for her search.

Mobius could hear her through the wall, frantically rummaging through the medicine cabinet before rapping on the door of his bathroom.

“Door’s unlocked!” he yelled to her.

Sylvie opened it and pretended not to notice his cushy setup.

“Everything okay?” he asked, slightly concerned now that he saw that she was beginning to panic and cry.

“I stabbed him! I stabbed Thor!” she admitted, wiping her eyes on her sleeve as she checked the label on the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and grabbed some bandages.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much. It happens to every Loki variant at some point. You want help?”

“No.” she said very quickly, shaking her head, almost offended that he had even asked. She also immediately stopped crying and hardened her emotional facade. It was almost as if she were offended he had even asked, and quickly left, slamming the door.

Thor sat at the cluttered dining room table with Loki, who sat across from him, not offering any help, but simply watching with fascination.

“And this,” Thor said, grabbing the helm of the knife, and getting ready to yank it out. He looked up at Loki before finishing his sentence. “Is why we don’t let little ones play with knives-” his sentence was abruptly cut off with a cringe of searing pain as he yanked it out and set it on top of a napkin.

Sylvie raced in just in time to pour some peroxide on the cut, and apply some pressure to it, the most she physically could without bumping him off the chair. In this short stretch of time, she also got a good look at the rest of his torso.

She had seen it before, but not this close up, and noticed all the healed over wounds that Loki had previously created.

Some had been manually healed with stitches or time, while others had been worked over with magic.

A couple, in harder to reach areas on his back, had been infected a long time ago or had healed weirdly in purple or white strips, and it made her feel, just a little bit, less bad.

“I’m sorry for stabbing you,” she said again, a little more genuinely this time. “But, we can still keep the spa day going, right?”

“Yes, but I get the knife this time. Okay?”

“Okay. But I can put the mask on your face, right?”

“No!” Loki whined. “I wanna do that!”

“You can put on your own like a big kid if you wanna do it so bad,” Sylvie informed him.

Loki sat back in his chair with a little huff as Thor got up, clutching his side, grabbed a new knife from the kitchen drawer, and finished making cucumber slices. Even though they only needed six, he still cut up the whole thing, for a snack later, he rationalized.

Sylvie mixed the strange bowl she had been avoiding, just a little bit with a spoon. “So… how do I put this on? Do I use my fingers?”

Loki quickly conjured a paintbrush, which he dipped in the cream, and painted onto her cheek with it.

She flinched at the cold feeling and giggled before taking it from him and painting his nose. “Ok, sit still now, I wanna get your face.”

This task proved more difficult than expected as Loki smiled a little bit and smudged up the job. The tiny cracks and crevices by the edges of his mouth and on the ridge of his nose were near impossible. But Thor was an even bigger task as he wasn’t used to the feeling one bit, and refused to sit still. The fact that he kept a long beard made the task even more difficult, so Loki and Sylvie, with an extra paintbrush, teamed up to cover his face in the paste, trying to get an even coat as their big brother laughed and squirmed.

When they were satisfied with their work, they set two cucumbers down over his eyes, and then their own after that.

Loki patiently enjoyed the feeling, in an odd inbetween headspace, patiently reminiscing about a very similar treatment he used to get while in the palace of Asgard. Did he feel like a toddler? No, not exactly. He had enough self control to sit still-- but to be fair, this was Loki, not Thor, and he had been okay with sitting still and calming his mind from a much younger age than most other children.

Sylvie and Thor however, were not Loki, and after five minutes, Sylvie said something: “How long are we s’posed to keep these on for?”

“Fifteen minutes,” Thor told her.

“How long’s it been?”

“Five,” Loki responded.

She grumbled.

“You can always do something else,” he said. “You don’t need to sit here with the cucumbers.”

“You can always paint my nails,” Thor suggested.

“Oh can I?!” Loki asked, sitting up, letting the cucumbers fall onto the chair and splat a little bit of the green mask onto the pleather with them.

“No, you can’t,” Sylvie replied, having him sit back down. “It’s a job for big girls.”

She grabbed the clippers and such off the dining table and began to busy herself with clipping and filing his nails. But she didn’t really care about that. She wanted to get to the painting.

However, she did a nice job, anyway, and then grabbed a small basin of water, warm water, for Thor’s hands to soak in.

“It’s probably about time to wash these off, now,” Loki commented before actually getting up to do just that.

“Ew. It feels all crusty!” Sylvie complained.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Bu; then you can take it off and it feels really nice.” Loki rinsed his face off at the sink as he spoke in a somewhat adult manner, still fluctuating, as he grabbed a rag from a drawer and ran it under some water.

Thor was about to get up, when Loki stopped him and smushed the wet cloth into his face.

Thor couldn’t help but flinch and pull away like a toddler.

“Seevee, look!” Loki giggled. “Just like you with daddy!”

Sylvie peeked back over and watched as Thor scrunched up his face and pulled away from the rag. “He needs to get it off or it’ll harden more. Stop squirming!” she told Thor with a mix of amusement and strict discipline.

Loki eventually scraped most of it off, only leaving a few small, green chunks of clay in his beard, and a couple of dropped chunks in the bowl his hands were set in.

“Thank you,” Thor reluctantly told the little.

Loki nodded before running up to Sylvie in the kitchen where she was examining nail polish colors, and handing her the nail clippers. “Mine now!” he demanded, holding out his hands for her. Reluctantly, and giving him a raised eyebrow stare, knowing full well he could simply will his nails to be trimmed and filed, she did the quick task anyway.

She looked at Thor’s hands and quickly decided he had soaked them for long enough. So she took the bowls, refilled them with warm water for Loki and cleared a space at the table for them to sit so she could start painting.

“I feel like I’m running my own salon, here,” she stated bluntly. As if that were definitely not a good thing, but far from being horrible.

“Only for the manicures. I can handle the pedicures, cuz’ I’m real good at those.”

Maybe it was an odd thing to say, but one thing about Lokis is that they aren’t always ones for shoes. Loki and Sylvie were almost always barefoot when they could be, and after a thousand years in the palace of Asgard, that meant he did have some pretty in depth knowledge about how to take care of his feet and keep them nice, especially when the alternative to being barefoot was leather boots.

Loki sat to the side, soaking his hands in the small basins while Sylvie pushed back Thor’s cuticles and they discussed paint colors while sitting across from one another.

“I think red would be very cool. Like a deep, dark red,” Thor suggested.

“You can’t go wrong with a blood look,” Sylvie agreed. “But are you sure? I think purple might look good on you.”

Thor shook his head. “Red, please. I’ll let Loki do pink or purple on my toes.”

“Really?!” Loki asked with a grin.

“Yes, really.”

Loki and Sylvie looked at each other and smiled curling, wicked, smirks as if they had just won some big battle.

Loki’s nails were much more fun to paint than Thor’s.

Sylvie painted them an iridescent dark green that looked black from most angles until light hit them, which Loki was quite thrilled with.

Meanwhile, Thor shook out his hands, to try and make them dry faster, standing in the corner of the home.

The first time, nothing had happened, as he had waited long enough for the coat to begin to set. However, right after Sylvie added a second, globby coat, he continued, and ended up flicking paint all over the living space. Making the area seemingly speckled with flecks of blood.

Loki and Sylvie did not notice this, as Loki was too busy using a tinge of magic to get Sylvie new, warm water for her hands, and staring at the sparkling black green moving his hands back and forth, mesmerized by the way that they caught the light.

She pushed back her own cuticles quickly after five minutes or so of sitting idly with her hands in the water and then quickly added a second coat of paint to Loki’s fingers, which he made as difficult as possible by excitedly standing up for, and also giving Thor’s nails a setting top coat of clear polish before she handed over a bottle to Loki and requested he paint hers now.

Loki jumped at the idea and took the black bottle from her hands after adding a magic little base coat that the impatient girl had neglected the other times. Then, he added the first coat of paint, covering each nail perfectly with two brief strokes of the brush.

Mobius stretched and set his elbows on the ledges of the tub before examining his pruney fingers and emptied glass, and deciding it was time to drain the tub and get on with the rest of the day. He took out the plug and took a deep breath as the water and steam drained away, leaving the bathroom cool and swirling with air as he slowly got up and out of the remaining water, wrapping himself in a towel and turning on the bathroom fan.

He pressed his ear to the door, and was pleased to be met with the sound of a reassuring momentary quiet with calm waves of indiscernible Sylvie speech and Loki babblings.

Once he was confident that his nails had more than enough time to dry, Loki got up and prepared the final piece of their spa day, creating three comfortable spots on the couch for himself, Thor and Sylvie.

The first piece of the process was the part he found to be the most pleasant. Sitting down on the couch, absolutely still with his feet in hot, bubbling water, an effect his magic provided. There was no reason, it didn’t really do anything, but it definitely felt nice.

“Is this the same as a manicure?” Sylvie asked

“Um.. kind of?”

“Kind of? What’s different?”

Loki grew up in headspace. “Shall I walk you through it?”

“So then, when we’re ready, we take a rock--”

“A rock?” Sylvie asked.

“Yes. It’s called a pumice stone. Would you like to feel it?”

Sylvie shook her head, but was obviously still curious.

“--and we rub it on to get our heels and feet to get the dead skin and calluses off.”

“I worked hard to get those calluses,” Sylvie complained.

“I know, I know. But trust me.”

Loki created two more rocks and handed one to Thor.

“Do you want me to do yours for you?” he asked Sylvie.

She cringed uncomfortably at the thought of someone touching her feet, but nodded.

So, while miraculously keeping his feet submerged in the now vertically tipped tub of water, Loki took the pumice stone to her heels, holding the back of her ankle as she reflexively pulled away at the uncomfortable feeling.

“It won’t hurt you. Promise,” he said reassuringly while working lightly but methodically. “There. Now it’s just like the manicure. We just trim, file, push back, and paint.”

“You just wanted to feel like you were helping, didn’t you?” Sylvie asked as she realized that the whole process was much simpler and less upsetting than he had made it seem.

Loki paused and considered this stance. “... yep.”

Then, he continued, cutting and filing her nails gently, setting the weird rock aside.

Sylvie sighed and sat back, choosing to relax instead of fighting him about it.

She looked over at Thor and noticed he was in the middle of the same process.

“Bunny, what color are we going to paint Thor’s nails?”

Loki looked up at her, mind clicking into a younger headspace. “Um… purple!”

“Oh, I was going to do purple!”

“Then pink!”

Thor pressed his lips together. “I wanted to match with my little sisters!” he said, as if this were a very serious matter.

“All purble,” Loki affirmed.

“Purple toesies,” Sylvie sing-songed, watching as Loki gently painted without any hesitations, and with even less mistakes.

Loki nodded before setting the brush back into the vile.

Thor handled his own pedicure mostly, but let Loki paint his nails, once the little was done taking care of his own, trimming and filing to the best of his abilities.

Mobius opened the door as everyone relaxed on the sofa.

The table and counters were covered in various pieces of spa equipment and self care tools, the big leather chair and back of the couch had clay mask clumps, and it didn’t help that there was blood on the white dish towels next to dark red nail polish on the couch.

He looked at the mess, and then at the three of them, chattering and giggling on the couch as their purple paint dried.

“Daddy! Daddy, look! Loki did my toes! And I painted his fingernails! Can we paint yours, too? Pretty please?” Sylvie asked.

Mobius acted like this was a tough decision before striking a deal with her. “If you and Loki can clean up after you’re done, then you can paint my nails. How does that sound?”

Loki and Sylvie worked together for him, with Sylvie bypassing some of the manicuring process and skipping right to trimming, filing, and painting his nails while Loki went through the entire pedicure process with the water and pumice stone, so that by the time Mobius was waiting for the first coat of paint on his fingers to dry, Loki could file and clip his toenails, which surprisingly, didn’t need all that much work and were kept rather nice.

He painted Mobius’ nails the same color of sparkly purple as everyone else’s, even though he didn’t find the color to fit him well in the slightest.

Sylvie on the other hand, had chosen a shimmering copper that looked dashingly nice with his silver hair and brown and orange clothing color palette, even though Mobius personally found having his nails painted any color but a modest nude or clear rather extra. He let her regardless, and of course, Loki held to his word, and after some encouragement and a swish of magic, he cleaned the home and allowed most of the luxuriant care items he had conjured to fade into the void.

“So do you guys feel better?” Mobius had asked them both that evening.

“Mhm. Daddy feel better?” Loki asked back.

“Yeah. Much better, big guy.”

0 notes

pinknatural · 3 years

Text

CASTIEL, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, Michael says. YOU WILL JOIN THE ELITE GARRISON--LED BY ME, OF COURSE, TO RETRIEVE MY SWORD FROM HELL.

YES, MICHAEL, Castiel says.

“Are you sure you wanna go by yourself?” Sam asks.

“It’s gotta be me,” Dean says. He looks between Sam and Eileen and Jack and Claire and Kaia, tries to memorize their faces. He smiles weakly. “I’ll be back soon.”

He turns around. Michael lifts his hands. Dean takes a moment to commit his youngest brother’s face to memory. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Dean says, and Michael opens the portal.

Hell is loud. Screams from the tortured souls fill the air. Cries from demons fill the sound, and overtop are wails from the Cage. Castiel shudders at the sound of angelic screeching, grating and unexpected against his grace. He grips his blade tighter and dives between a layer of racks.

He has his orders--fight the demons. Find the Righteous Man. Call Michael, allow him to retrieve his sword. Losses of angelic lives are unfortunate but perhaps necessary. Castiel recites them like a mantra, and a swarm of demons leaps for him. He flares his wings wide and bares his teeth and turns the full force of his hundreds of eyes onto them, and he fights.

The Empty is quiet. Eerily so. Every footstep Dean takes is muffled. He cannot hear himself breathe, cannot hear his heart, beating against his chest. For a moment, he’s certain he is dead, but when he puts his palm over his breast, he feels it, a steady tattoo against his ribcage. Dean tightens his grip on his angel blade, and he keeps walking forward.

In the distance, Castiel spots Sarah fall. He dives sideways. He has always been smaller than his siblings, has always been a bit faster, and he slips between the cracks of the first circle, and descends deeper into the pit.

OOHH...LITTLE HUMAN, a voice, slimy and awful, says, curling around him like the worst kind of hug. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

“I’m here for my angel,” Dean says. He stares up at nothing, defiant. He’s glad he can hear his own voice.

THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG, the voice says. HE IS MY ANGEL NOW. SLEEPING BESIDE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, TUCKED IN A LINE, DREAMING OF HIS GREAT REGRETS. AND OH, LITTLE HUMAN, HE HAS MANY.

“I ain’t leaving without him,” Dean says, clenching his fist. His shoulder feels like it’s burning.

LITTLE HUMAN, YOU ARE NOT MEANT FOR THE EMPTY. NOT WHILE THAT HEART BEAT-BEAT-BEATS INSIDE YOUR CHEST. LEAVE. YOU MAY RETURN WHEN YOU DIE. YOU WERE PROMISED TO ME, YOU KNOW.

“You don’t want me stuck inside you forever,” Dean says, then he winces because okay, that was kinda dirty. “I’m kind of an expert at being annoying. I’m also an expert in tearing up afterlives.”

OH, HUMAN. YOU POOR THING. HOW EMBARRASSING. YOUR DESIRE FOR THE ANGEL LEAKS OUT OF YOUR PORES.

Dean snarls. “Who are your greatest prizes?” he asks. “Which angels and demons do you have the most pride in keeping here? And who handed them directly to you?”

Castiel isn’t sure where Michael is. He isn’t even sure where he is. He assumes the Righteous Man is in the seventh circle, but he’s been through so many, been pushed back and pulled forward, and he could be anywhere.

Angels do not get tired. Castiel thinks that if he could be, he would be. He feels another of his brothers die. A hoard of demons is attempting to sneak up on him. Castiel whirls around, flaring his wings, and he smites them all.

There are millions of angels. There are billions of demons.

This will take a while.

HERE’S THE DEAL, LITTLE HUMAN. IF YOU FIND YOUR ANGEL, YOU CAN DRAG HIM OUT OF HERE AND NEITHER OF YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO RETURN. BUT IF YOU CHOOSE THE WRONG ANGEL, I WILL TAKE YOU TODAY AND NEVER LET YOU GO. BUT DON’T WORRY--I’LL MAKE SURE TO PUT YOUR SLEEPING RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR BELOVED ANGEL.

“Deal,” Dean says, because of course he knows who Cas is, of course he does, but all of a sudden the darkness of the Empty is lit up in a brilliant white light, and thousands and thousands of--shapes--are before him. Angels, Dean realizes. In their true form. And he has to find one specific one, that he’s never seen before.

This will take a while.

Castiel sneaks into a new circle. He will be found, sooner or later, but for now he is undetected. He inspects his surroundings--blood and fire and souls writhing on their racks. His grace brightens for a moment before he tampers it back down. This is the seventh circle! The Righteous Man could be any of these souls. Castiel creeps forward.

Rows and rows of angels, floating before him, all blue-white with grace, all dormant and asleep. They are hard to look at, too bright and too confusing, constantly twisting and shifting. They look like something outta Escher, or a Mobius strip, or maybe just a tangled mass of wires. Four or five animal heads or no heads at all, thousands of eyes or maybe just a mass of wings, tucked over and over each other. Dean can only really look at each one with a glance. And he’s sure none of them are his.

The Righteous Man’s soul burns bright, brighter than any human soul Castiel has ever seen. He is doing the torturing, not being tortured, and the cheeks of the humanoid shape the golden soul has taken shine with tears. He is in agony, and he loves what he does as he carves into the soul before him.

There’s a smaller angel than the others. When Dean looks at it, it looks kind of like a conch shell, curling and swirling, and kind of like a bird, and kind of like a knot, twisted and tangled. It is small, but it is bright. Blue-white with grace but braided with other colors too, red and orange and yellow and green and purple and pink and colors Dean’s never even heard of. His left shoulder throbs painfully, and Dean stares at the angel with awe.

Castiel knows he is supposed to call Michael. He knows Michael is supposed to lift his sword from perdition. But--

the Righteous Man is so beautiful. So brilliant. Castiel cannot help it.

Dean’s shoulder is painful and the angel shifts and changes and Dean has to be 100% sure, but this angel is the most beautiful thing Dean’s ever seen. He can’t tear his gaze away.

Castiel reaches out.

Dean reaches out.

When Dean wakes up, he is alone.

When Cas wakes up, he has only time to inhale before he’s tucked into Dean’s arms, face pressed into his neck, held tighter, and tigher, and Cas reaches his arms around Dean and digs his fingers into his jacket and inhales Dean’s scent and breathes, breathes.

#why did i put dante references in this........? no clue byee #castiel #dean winchester #deancas #happy lazarus rising dayyyy #writingtag

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tvimagines221b · 3 years

Text

(Loki Laufeyson x OC)

⚠️SPOILERS for Loki S1EP 4 “The Nexus Event.” ⚠️

Summary: Sylvie, Loki and Sarah are brought in by the TVA after being stranded on Lamentis. While being interrogated, Loki learns Sarah is being held in a hellish prison, and demands to be taken to her. When Loki finds her, he must comfort his hurting sister.

Characters: Loki Laufeyson, Sarah Odinsdottir (OC), Mobius (Minor)

TVA

Here they were again. After having escaped from the TVA, and being stranded on Lamentis, Loki was once again in the TVA’s custody. Loki let out a groan of frustration. First, it was being trapped in a simulation that was supposed to be the TVA’s ridiculous attempt at torturing him. Now, it was once again being interrogated by Mobius. Loki shakes his head. So much had been running through his mind in the moment. What happened on Lamentis, the truth behind the TVA. Most importantly, where the others had been. Loki of course, presumed that Sylvie was likely being held in one of the other Time Theatres, and being interrogated by another one of the agents. As for Sarah, he hadn’t the faintest clue where she was being kept. Which worried him. She had aided him with escaping, and now she would be seen as a criminal, a Varient.

Loki leaned in, his elbows resting in the table. He needed to see her. He needed to know she was all right. “Where is my sister?” He asked. “I need to know that she’s okay.” Mobius let out a faint chuckle. He shakes his head. Loki had betrayed not only him, but the TVA. Now that their trust had been broken, he didn’t have to tell him anything. “Loki, I don’t have to tell you anything now. You betrayed us, and took off with the Variant.” Mobius remarked.

Loki felt his blood boil. When it came to his sisters safety, it wasn’t a game. “Mobius, I want to see her!” He exclaimed. “Now where the hell is she?” Mobius sighs, leaning back in his seat. “She’s alive, if that’s what you want to know.”

“I want to see her. Take me to her.” Loki demanded. He needed to see for himself that she was okay.

Mobius shakes his head. “I can’t do that, Loki.” After all, Mobius had a job to do. That job was to interrogate Loki, and to figure out whatever his plan was.

“Why not?” He snarled.

“Loki, your sister is a criminal now. She aided you with escaping with the Varient, we can’t trust her now.” Mobius explained. Loki knew that much. But it didn’t change the fact that no matter what she had done, he still had the instinct to protect her. To shelter her from any form of harm. Always. Loki clenched his fists. “Which is exactly why I need to know that one of your silly agents haven’t done anything to harm her!” He protested. He needed to know she was okay. That they weren’t hurting her.

Mobius exhaled. He could tell Loki wasn’t going to let this go. After all, this was Sarah they were talking about. The one person Loki’s entire life aside form his mother that he truly had any love or care for her. Someone he would protect her by any means. But that didn’t matter now. His job did. “Loki, I’m sorry. My job is to interrogate you.”

Loki knew he had to tell Mobius about the lies that the TVA had been feeding him. “Mobius, all of this is a lie. The TVA is lying to you.”

Mobius could only laugh. This was just Loki trying to distract him. “Loki, I’m not going to fall for your tricks. I know you’re just trying to distract me.” This was his poor attempt at trying to escape again.

“Mobius, I’m not lying about this.” He reassured.

Mobius crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course you are. Because that’s what you do! You lie, and betray. You kill, and destroy. It’s your destined life, Loki.” Mobius had truly hoped that Loki could be so much more than just the God of Mischief, that he could choose a different path. But unfortunately, the recent events had proved him wrong. Loki was never going to change! “I thought you could be better, Loki. Even after what everyone kept telling me, I held onto the belief that you would choose to be good. But I was wrong. I was arrogant to think that The God of Mischief could ever be a better person.” Loki studied Mobius. Mobius was just as clueless as the rest of them. Stuck with the beliefs that the TVA were telling him. “Mobius, please. Okay? Just let me see Sarah, I just need to know she’s all right.” Loki plead.

Mobius could see the desperation in Loki’s eyes. Mobius sighs. “Loki…I have a job to do.”

Loki knew he Mobius wouldn’t let his job go. So, he had to go along. “Fine, okay? You can interrogate me, learn whatever it is you want to know, and I’ll tell you. But I ask only that you let me see that she’s safe. That’s fair, right?”

Mobius thought for a moment. He needed Loki to cooperate, and he knew Loki would likely refuse unless he gave into his request. Mobius sighs. “Fine. If you wanna know so badly, I’ll tell you where she is. She’s being held in a prison similar to the one you were placed in.” Mobius’s words only made Loki’s heart sink. What? Loki blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“She’s been there since we brought you in.” He nods. “Renslayer thought it would be best, so we send her in.” Though, Mobius noticed Loki’s change of emotion.

Loki’s expression quickly changed from worry, to hurt. If her prison had been anything like his, then she was in much pain. He couldn’t bare the thought of her being in that much pain. Loki felt the tears well in the back of his eyes. “She’s innocent, she doesn’t deserve that. Yes, I’ve done some awful things, and I deserve such punishment that I’ll admit. But Sarah has done nothing but good her entire life, and she doesn’t deserve to suffer for something I did.” He told him.

Mobius uncrossed his arms. “That wasn’t my call, I only went through with my orders.” He was only doing what Judge Renslayer had asked of him. “Look…I’m not supposed to take you to her.”

Loki felt that anger in him again. He wasn’t going to let his little sister suffer, that was for damn sure! “I won’t let her suffer!” He exclaims.

Mobius could see how angry Loki seemed to be about this, an angry Loki wasn’t good in this situation. Loki being angry wasn’t good for anyone. Mobius sighs. Even after having betrayed them, he would give into Loki’s request. “Okay, calm down. Despite what you’ve done, I’m willing to be nice enough to let you see her. But that’s it!”

“And you release her.” Loki demands. Mobius sighs again, and nods. He supposed Sarah could be kept elsewhere. “Yes. I will release her.” He reassured. This of course, gave Loki some sense of relief.

“Then what are we waited for?” He remarked.

After having given into Loki’s demands, Mobius had decided he would wait a second giving Loki what he had wanted. With his tempad in hand, Mobius had opened the doorway to the holding cell which Sarah had resided in. Mobius looked to Loki. “I’ll be right behind you.” He told him. Loki straighted his posture, he nods. He then looked forwards at the doorway, and stepped inside. However, the moment he did his heart dropped at the sound of very loud sobbing. Heartbreaking sobs. Loki looked around, and his eyes grew wide. He had recognized the surroundings. The ship, and the wreckage. This wasn’t just any place. This was the exact place where he died, well his future self. This is where Sarah had lost him. “Sarah? Sarah?” He called out. He needed to find her, and quickly. His eyes scanned every inch of the surroundings, but then he had found her. Sarah Odinsdottir sat on her knees, sobbing her eyes out, her gaze was stuck on the floor. “Stop, okay? Just stop!” She plead. “I know I’m never going to save him. I know I’m weak, okay?”

“Sarah?” Loki quizzed. Sarah’s stop didn’t stop. Especially when she heard Loki’s voice. Because every time she had heard his voice, it had never really been him. It was the illusion that the TVA had conjured up to torture her. To remind her that she would never be able to save Loki, that she was weak, and he would die no matter what she did. “Stop! Just stop!” She cried.

The God of Mischief was quick to rush his sisters side, dropping onto his knees beside her. “Sarah, it’s me.” He placed his arms on her shoulders.

Sarah felt hands on both of her shoulders. This time, she looked up. Her gaze met with Loki’s. “Loki?” Loki felt his heart ache at the sight of her. Her eyes were red, and puffy. Her cheeks were stained with her tears, which even then hadn’t stopped. “It’s…it’s you?”

Loki nods. “Yes, yes it’s me.” He cupped her face in his hands. “It’s me my dear, I’m real.”

Mobius, who had been following right behind Loki simply stood a few feet away from them. He didn’t say anything. He figured there was really nothing for him to say in the moment.

Sarah reached her hand out, gently brushing it against his cheek. “You’re not…an illusion?” She croaked. Loki leaned into her touch, shaking his head. Sarah could feel how cold his skin was. He was real, wasn’t he? “I’m real, Sarah. I swear to you, I am.” He told her, gently. Sarah looked over Loki’s shoulder to then see Mobius. If Mobius was here, it meant that this Loki was in fact HER Loki. Not the trick the TVA was torturing her with.

Sarah’s hand slowly fell from Loki’s cheek. She did the only thing she think of. She throws her arms around him, hugging him. “I’m so glad it’s you.” She cried. Loki didn’t hesitate to return the hug. His arms slithered around him, hugging her back. “I had to watch you die. It wouldn’t stop. It wouldn’t stop.”

Loki sensed Sarah’s pain. Her heart ache. Which, only hurt him. She didn’t deserve this. In his eyes, he still saw her as that sweet, caring, and innocent little girl he swore to always protect. To shelter from the world.

Loki looked to Mobius. There was anger, but also relief in his eyes. Sarah was safe, and that’s all that mattered to him. As Sarah cried, Loki cradled the back of her head, something he did to soothe her when she was younger. “Shh it’s all right now, Sarah. I’m here. I’m here now.” He cooed. Mobius could only look down. A part of him felt guilty for what he had done. A part of him hated that he had caused her so much, deep down knowing that what Loki had said was true. Sarah was innocent. All her life, she only ever did good, she always looked out for others before herself. “I’m going to leave you for a moment.” Mobius looked back up, nods his head before walking off to give them some time alone. Loki kept his focus on soothing his crying sister. She needed him right now, and he intended to be by her side as he always had been. Because she was more important than anything. He would do anything for her.

Sarah buried her head against Loki’s shoulder, as the never ending tears streamed down her face. She felt so weak, and worthless. No matter how hard she tried, she always failed. She always failed to keep her family together. “I couldn’t save you. I’m never going to be strong enough. I’m weak. I’m a failure.” She croaked.

Oh how Loki hated to hear her say that. He knew it wasn’t true.

He knew how strong she was.

Sarah was stronger than he ever had been. And he admired her so much for that. He always had. He admired how she always stood up for not just herself, but others. How she held onto hope, and fought for what’s right. She was everything he ever wanted her to be. He felt proud knowing he had raised her to be the strong, and independent young woman she now was. He felt proud knowing he had inspired goodness, instead of hate. “You’re not weak, my dear. You’re strong. You’re so strong. And I am so proud of you, Sarah.” He whispered. Loki didn’t think twice about letting go of her. His arms remained around her. “Do you hear me? I’m proud of you.”

Sarah slowly pulled herself away, now looking at Loki. “I-I don’t understand. I can’t save you. I can never save you. I can never stop it. I can never save our family.” She shakes her head.

Loki pressed his lips together, gathering the right words. “Sarah, listen to me. Not even my death can keep us apart.” Him being here with her right now proved that. He cupped her face again. “You will always have me. Nothing will ever stop that. Not the timekeepers. Not the TVA. We will always find our way back to one another.” He said, gently.

Sarah had looked down. It was odd to her how even after everything, all of her hurt and pain. After all of her grieving, somehow she had found herself with him again. Even after his death. “I-I don’t understand why this happened. Why I got a second chance.” She looked back up. A tear slipped down her cheek. Loki exhaled, wiping the tear as it fell. He didn’t know either. But it didn’t matter to him, because they had one another. “It doesn’t matter how or why you got this second chance, what matters is you did. You’re not alone, my dear. You never have been, because I am never going to let you feel that sort of pain.” Loki knew what that kind of loneliness felt like. It was why all of Sarah’s life, he always made sure she knew that she wasn’t alone. That someone cared for her, and loved her. That someone would always fight for her, no matter what. “I love you so much, Sarah. I will always fight for you.” He told her. Sarah felt a warmth in her heart. She knew. She knew that he would always fight for her.

He always had.

“I know.” Sarah nods. “I love you too.” She told him. She could never forget that. Never.

Loki had managed a faint smile. He leaned down, giving her forehead a soft kiss. He then pulled her close to him, hugging her again. After everything that had happened recently, he really needed this. Just a moment of peace, and clarity. A moment with her, the most important person in his life. And he was going to get to the bottom of this. He and Sylvie would find out what was really going on with the TVA, and take them down. They would make sure that no one else’s lives would have to be taken from them, and that things change.

For all of time.

#loki #loki x oc #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson x oc #loki odinson #loki odinson x oc #marvel #mcu #marvel oc #mcu oc #tom hiddleston

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sserpente · 3 years

Text

OKAY OKAY WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE SECOND EPISODE BECAUSE I HAVE QUESTIONS AND I AM SQUEALING.

First of all, it’s bold of them to assume that we need a “previously on”. It’s not like we don’t know the first episode by heart already, hahahaha!

Alright, so first of all: LOKI USE YOUR POWERS BABY. Was he stalling? Was he trying to get more information? Is “Lady Loki” really that powerful?! It kind of looked like he didn’t really WANT to fight her, does that make sense? It makes sense to me! Also add telekinesis to Loki’s powers, YES BABY!

Speaking of "Lady Loki”--I was SCREAMING because she looks so FREAKING BADASS I LOVE IT but I still don’t buy it! YES, she’s got the Loki costume. YES, she’s got the horns even but hear me out: SHE’S BLONDE. I don’t mind Lady Loki being blonde, it looks REALLY COOL but that MUST have been a conscious decision of them then because as far as I’m concerned, Sophia is not naturally blonde, neither is Lady Loki in the comics but you know who is?! SYLVIE. And when Loki called her “Loki” she was like “ugh, don’t call me that”. EXCUSE ME, WAS THAT A HINT? Also did Loki recognise her? He didn’t have any lines after that, so I can’t tell? I have to watch it again! if he didn’t recognise her, then maybe the story will stray a little further from what we know about Loki and Sylvie in the comics (in which Loki gives Sylvie her powers so they’d have the same magical signature or whatever). Or with all the different timelines and multiverses, our Loki never met Sylvie in this one, who the fuck knows? I feel like there’s gonna be another plot twist. Don’t forget we get a “Young Sylvie” at some point, that’s gotta mean something!!! I still believe this is the Enchantress! And/or, taking up my previous theories on it being both Lady Loki and Sylvie at the same time, she might have changed her identity for whatever reason and now firmly believes she’s Sylvie or something. IDK, GEEZ.

Guys, I have to be honest with you, I have NO CLUE where this is going! I’m completely BLANK! WHAT does she want?! WHY is she doing this? Honestly, I don’t think she’s evil, I don’t think that her goal is the annihilation of everything. There’s gotta be more to it than that but we just don’t have enough information yet to put the puzzle pieces together. AND NOW THAT CLIFFHANGER HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK?! Where did they go? IDK. Could be that “purple” place from the trailer. They sure are going to have a proper conversation though in the next episode.

Now I freaking love Loki’s outift, I just RAAAWR. That TIE. That JACKET. I WANT THAT JACKET. He ALMOST got his daggers back, my poor baby, SO CLOSE! This episode made me cackle so much, it’s soooo different to see Loki like this; first of all, again, knowing his usual tricks don’t work and he doesn’t have the upper hand per se makes it really interesting to see how he acts around Mobius and the rest of the TVA. Away from Thanos and the influence of the sceptre, Loki seems so much more... blithe? Does that makes sense? It’s a completely different side of him but then again we get those darker scenes where we see the intimidating Loki we know and it’s like we’re getting to know Loki all over again? JUST IMAGINE WHAT HE’S LIKE IN A RELATIONSHIP THEN, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It just makes SOOOO MUCH SENSE that Tom said that Loki acts differently around dfiferent people.

ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW HE TRIED TO HIT MISS MINUTE!!!

Now, two more things (I’m really just randomly throwing things at you here):

First of all, LOKI SPEAKING LATIN. Again, I’m not quite sure how or if the Allspeak still affects him (since the Mongolian thing in the first episode made us wonder about it already) but I’m just gonna go ahead and say that Loki is fluent in Latin because he FREAKING COULD.

Second of all, I thought it was very suspicious of Mobius to say “I don’t care what makes you tick” because in the first episode he wanted Loki to explain to him just that. Was he lying? I still don’t trust him. NOTHING IS REAL, honestly! That conversation they had in the cafeteria really proved to me that the TVA isn’t to be trusted. When Ravonna and Mobius talked I even thought maybe the Time Keepers don’t even exist at some point.

AND LOKI IS NOT LETTING ANYONE GET TO HIM ANYMORE. Did you see him read of the destruction of Asgard?! He was TEARING UP, you could see the grief on his face and then when he told Mobius (RIP Mobius’ salad) and he went like “I’m sorry” Loki was just like “Yes, very sad,” in a nonchalant way and moved on to tell him what he’d found out rather excitedly. This is the PERFECT example of Loki continuing to do what he does so much, just concealing his feelings and his vulnerability behind mischief and I STILL WANNA HUG HIM.

All the different Loki Variants they should the team, I freaking loved this but it does raise the question at what point in the “sacred timeline” these Lokis hopped off the timeline to cause mischief? Which in turn raises the question if we’re right not to trust the TVA and the sacred timeline is a bunch of bullshit? Also, you know what would have been hilarious too, if they had included a Norse Mythology version of Loki. You know, ginger hair and all. I feel like Loki would have approved of that cameo, hahaha!

Speaking of the Norse Myths, it’s funny how Loki freed those goats in Pompeii because in the myths, he once tied a goat’s beard to his testicles to make Skadi laugh. Thought that was a fun little connection!

It’s now canon, by the way, that there’s no candy on Asgard. Not even chocolate?! We know that Loki looooves chocolate, don’t we? Awww, baby! Now I feel like writing an Imagine where you take Loki to a candy store and he gets to try everything and then gets a sugar rush, hahaha!

And, last but not least, “PROFESSOR LOKI” HIT DIFFERENT. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. He’s such a smart cookie I LOVE IT.

I might add some more stuff and reblog this post once I’ve watched the episode again, I’m still processing everything, hahaha!!!

#loki #loki spoilers #loki show spoilers #loki show #loki series #loki series spoilers

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