Tumgik
#lokixrc
mistress-ofmagic · 2 years
Text
Around the realms in 80 days chapter 4
Pairing: Reader x Loki
Story summary: You have fallen through a portal during the convergence into Asgard and come face to face with Thor, and his brother Loki. With no way to return, you must travel with the two men and their hoard of asgardian soldiers to get back home. Things get from bad to worse when you have to share a tent with the god of mischief himself.
Notes: What do you think of this chapter??
Read this story on a03!
Read the fist part on Tumblr here:
You must have fallen asleep at some point; lying completely still, with your eyes tight shut, frozen in fear incase you were murdered in the night had somehow forced your brain into sleep. In your hazy state, you forgot where you were for a second. It was a Saturday right? That meant you could sleep in and get up lazily around lunchtime. You snuggled back down into the pillows. Something wasn’t quite right though, why was there so much sunlight? You always had your black-out blinds on as you hated light when sleeping. 
Wait, actually come to think of it, why could you hear horses too?
You sat bolt upright. 
A strange man, with long back hair was stood in the tent, buckling up his trousers.
“AH!” You shouted and scrambled to pull the blankets up as high as they could go to in order to regain some modesty. 
The memories of the previous day came flooding back to you. The fact you were on a different planet, travelling with the man who had tried to conquer New York.
The man in question muttered to himself something that sounded suspiciously like “idiot mortal” before sitting on the end of the bed and starting to pull his boots on. 
“Knock knock!” Someone shouted cheerfully from outside.
Without waiting for a response, Fandral entered the tent. He looked surprised to see you, 
“Little Latte! What are you doing still in bed?”
“Er, what did you just call me?” You asked incredulously 
Fandral laughed “A silly moniker based on the silly Midgardian drink you were having yesterday.”
“How do you know what a latte is?” 
Fandral smirked at you, “Well you see, I’m an extremely experienced being, darling” 
You raised the sheets higher,
“I think I preferred Latte.” 
He laughed, and took another step towards the bed, placing a hand on the bed frame. 
“Absolutely not. Get out.” Loki stood, enraged from the end of the bed and turned to Fandral. “You will not waltz into my tent uninvited and place your licentious hands on my bed.” 
Fandral turned slowly towards him,
“You’d know all about my licentious hands wouldn’t you, Loki.”
Erm what? What was that supposed to mean? 
Your eyebrows shot up and you sat up a bit straighter. 
“Get out” Loki hissed. 
Fandral made a point of removing his hand from the headboard, making eye contact with Loki all the while. He smiled at you,
“We’re leaving soon, you may want to get dressed.” He winked at you again and then left. 
There was a stoney silence left in the tent, while Loki pulled on his cloak. You didn’t really feel like bringing up what had just happened so you asked timidly, 
“I’m going to get dressed, could you stay turned around?” 
“Your highness.”
“What?” 
He tutted at you,
“Could you stay turned around, your highness. I am a future king or did you forget? It has not escaped my attention that since being here you have not only spoken to me out of turn, but continually inadequately addressed me.” 
So much for a night spent together soothing his hatred towards me, you thought. 
“As it is, I have no desire to see you change.” He snarled “Be quick or we will leave without you.” 
He left swiftly. 
“You could have woken me up earlier then” You muttered to yourself angrily. 
Staying under the covers as best as you could incase someone walked in, you pulled off the shirt and pulled on your clothes. 
I hope I can get some new clothes soon, this is kinda gross, you thought to yourself as you sniffed under your arms to make sure you didn’t smell too horrible. These people must be used to worse though right?
You stepped outside into the bright sun. It wasn’t exactly warm, but it was bright and sunny which was always a plus. You couldn’t remember the last time you had been awake and outside like this in the open air. Probably when you went camping with Guides when you were younger. Despite the whole situation, it weirdly felt pretty good to be outside early in the morning. You stretched and yawned and looked around to see the soldiers milling about, getting things packed up and saddling up the horses. No one paid much attention to you so you decided to go and find Thor. 
You found him talking to Loki and some soldiers near to the fire pit, where he was currently saddling up a horse.  When he saw you he smiled and you walked over. 
“My lady! You’re looking ravishing this morning!”
Loki made an audible noise of irritation while you blushed. If your time on Asgard was going to be spent by strapping Asgardians flirting with you, you thought you just might be able to handle it. 
Although, you doubted the truthfulness of Thor’s compliment; your hair was a mess and you were wearing yesterdays crumbled clothes.
“We will be mainly travelling today. It’s about a day and a half ride to the next village we are visiting. There are a couple more villages after that to visit before we go back to the capital” He informed you. 
“How long will it take?” You ask, eager for the trip to be short so you can go home. 
“Hard to tell” Thor frowned “a couple of weeks probably, Asgard are expecting us to return at the end of the month.” 
A couple of a weeks? You weren’t sure you could cope sharing a tent with Loki for a couple of weeks. You sighed, at least you had a timescale. A couple of weeks out of your life wasn’t much in the long-run, you were just going to have to suck it up. The countdown begins. 
“Will I be able to get some new clothes? I can’t wear the same clothes for a couple of weeks.” 
“Why so upset mortal? Trying to impress my brother?” Loki replied snidely. 
“I’m certainly not trying to impress you, your highness.” You retorted.
Loki looked furious, and opened his mouth to reply when Thor cut in, 
“My lady, I’m sure you can purchase some new garments in the next village, or wash your clothes the next time we are near a body of water.” 
How rustic.
The horse next to him whinnied. 
“Can you ride a horse?” Thor asked 
To be perfectly honest, you weren’t a massive fan of horses. You’d ridden one when you were younger and you didn’t really enjoy it, not to mention they were huge. Especially these ones, you thought eyeing it suspiciously. It stared back at you out of one eye and huffed. 
“Er no.”
“Would you like to learn?” Loki queried. 
You looked at him in surprise. His eyes were open wide in a sort of mock innocence, with a wicked gleam behind them. You were sort of stuck, you didn’t trust the reasoning behind him asking but you did need to learn how to ride if you were going to make it here. 
You cleared your throat “I suppose so.”
Very quickly you had the feeling you had made a mistake, as he grinned maliciously.
“Great.” 
Suddenly, to your horror, without premonition or warning, Loki bent down and hurled you up from the ground. He proceeded to drop you rather unceremoniously on top of the horse next to him.
“Oh my God!” You yelped.
He grinned again and hit the horses flank. The horse shot off, leaving you to hang on for your life on. You flailed and screamed, and grabbed the horse round the neck. 
“Fuck!” You screamed “Loki!” 
It probably didn’t last for long but if felt like an age, and by the time the horse galloped back to Thor you were shaking like a leaf. 
“What the hell!” You panted breathlessly. 
Thor, Loki and the rest of the men, who had turned to watch the screaming mortal were now laughing. In your hysteria you only just managed to note the strange sight of seeing Loki smile for the first time. It suited him, more so than the permanent scowl that was usually etched across his face and made him look, well almost human. Well maybe not human as he was a God, but certainly less murdery than usual. 
“That was not funny” You were still struggling to catch your breath back.
“You’re welcome mortal” Loki controlled his face back to a smirk. 
Once Thor had finished his laughing he said, 
“I’m sorry little one, but jumping straight honestly in as it were, is the best way to learn.”
Yeah but it’s not the best way to not die of a heart attack. 
The boy who you assumed was the servant, Halvor, came up to you and took the horse by the reins. 
“You will be travelling with Halvor for the journey. Is that okay?” Thor asked. 
“Er sure” You said still slightly breathless. The boy nodded at you and then hopped up gracefully behind you in the horse. 
This felt like a very close and intimate position to be in with someone you had never spoken to, and you felt kind of awkward. You focused on sitting as straight as you could so your back didn’t touch the boy behind you. Soon, the rest of the party were ready to go, and you managed to catch Loki waving his hand and the tent disappearing in green smoke. 
Neat trick.
The ensemble set off, with Thor, Loki, Fandral and a couple of other soldiers you were yet to learn the names of taking the front, you and Halvor made up the middle and the rest of the soldiers behind you. You guessed it was kind of a protection thing, that the servant boy and the mortal were in the middle so if anyone attacked from the front or back you would be safer. This unfortunately lead to thoughts around how likely was it that someone would attack you? Thor had mentioned the party was essentially out and about slaying…what was it? Barbarians and trolls? You hoped to god you didn’t run into trolls. That line of thought wasn’t particularly helpful so you tired your best to ignore it and focus on the ride ahead. 
                                                                  ***
“And then I said, I’d rather walk through Hel twice over than ride below the crupper with you madame.”
You laughed heartily, beginning to enjoy the journey in spite of yourself. For the last few hours an enormous man with bright red curly hair and a long beard with little braids in, who went by the name of Volstagg, had been regaling you and the rest of the men with his tales. 
“Volstagg, what are you filling the lady’s head with?” Thor asked chuckling. 
All in all, it hadn’t been a bad day thus far. You had managed to avoid anymore conversations with Loki, and the men were making you laugh a lot. You weren’t particularly enjoying the horse riding honestly, when you had stopped for lunch your thighs were extremely sore. However, the view was really nice, you were a fan of the Asgardian landscape.
When the other men were back to idle chatting, you spoke up to the servant behind you.
“How long have you been a servant for Halvor?” 
“Around 500 years now Miss.”
That was going to get used to. This boy who you would have put at a fair few years younger than you was actually hundreds of years older. 
“Are you Thor’s servant?” 
“Prince Thor, yes, Miss.”
“Do you enjoy it?” 
“Yes miss, Prince Thor is a fair master.” 
“Why is Loki’s servant not here?” 
“Prince Loki does not have a personal servant.”
You snorted, you found that difficult to believe given the mans ego.
“Why not?” 
‘Prince Loki does not like anyone in his chambers.” 
Now, that you could believe, given the way he was reacting to sharing a tent with you. 
“What, not even servants?” 
“No Miss.” He paused for a while, “not anyone.”
You thought for a while. You wondered what he was like when he wasn’t trying to take over worlds.
“Is he always so…tyrannical?” 
“How do you mean miss?”
“Like, is he always rude and…foreboding?
Halvor seemed to take his time before answering. 
“I don’t know miss.  Take for example, how there often are members of other royal families staying in the palace, and some are not always…agreeable towards palace attendants. I have never seen Loki treat a member of the palace staff as anything but pleasant.” 
“Perhaps it’s just people from earth he hates then.” You muttered. 
“I’m not sure miss.”
“About what?” 
“How deep Loki Odinson’s hate goes. One can only act in a way he thinks is right, and what we think is right is seldom unassisted.”
“How do you mean?” 
“We are the product of our environment after all.”
That was effectively what Thor had said the day previous. You were feeling a little sick of people sticking up for him, he had murdered hundreds of people during his last trip to Earth after all.  
“Environment counts for some sure, but personal accountability should’t be forgotten about.”
“Perhaps miss.” Halvor responded. 
You were quiet for a bit, thinking over what Thor and Halvor had discussed. It was interesting to hear that Loki was genial to serving staff, they do say that how men treat their inferiors is more important than how they treat their equals. 
As the sun started to set, the party started to make camp again. You were helped off your horse by Halvor, nearly falling over as your poor aching thighs tried to hold your weight. A fire was set up just as the evening before, and some of the men went to catch food for the evening. On the menu that night was fish, which was pretty tasty honestly. 
Riding around in the elements all day had tired you out and you were looking forward to getting into Loki’s comfortable bed and sleeping. You were not looking forward to another evening in the company of the man himself, but you were hopeful he would mostly ignore you again. You hadn’t seen him all evening, other than setting up his tent a little while away from the fire, he had then proceeded to disappear into it, not to be seen again. 
Fuck it, it was getting late, you were tired and wanted to sleep. You pushed your shoulders back and entered the tent.  
Loki had assumed his seemingly usual position of sitting with his back turned to you, writing something. 
You stood there awkwardly for a bit, feeling kind of stupid like a child that was waiting to tell their parents she threw up. 
“Can I help you?” Loki asked. 
“Er, no. I was just going to get ready for bed. Your highness” You added quickly, remembering your conversation that morning, and having no desire to be chucked out into the night to sleep on the floor. 
“Oh? And what gave you the impression you were welcome in here?” 
The question put you off slightly,
“I stayed here last night?” You framed your statement as more of a question, much to your displeasure. 
“Indeed. Yet I fail to remember you asking me about it.” 
You sighed and rolled your eyes, 
“Fine, can I stay here tonight?”
“No.” 
“Ugh! Why not?” 
He finally turned around, grinning at you again in that way that made you want to run and hide. 
“Ask me nicely mortal and I might consider it.” 
He was really not going to let this go you decided, so you pushed down all your dignity and asked,
“Please your highness, may I stay in your tent tonight?”
Loki leaved back in his chair, you didn’t fail to notice the way his legs were spread rather indecently. He tapped his finger on his bottom lip in thought and eyed you, cooly. 
“No.” 
He turned back around. 
“You said if I asked you nicely - “
“I might consider it yes. I decided not to consider it.” 
You were tired and grumpy, your legs ached and you were sick of being stuck with a man who clearly had no regard for you whatsoever. You just wanted to go to bed. 
You counted to ten in your head and concentrated on breathing. You were not going to let him get to you. 
“Is there anything I can do to change your mind on the considering it front?” 
“No.” 
Great.  
“It’s cold outside.” You tried.
“It is.” 
“And Thor said I could stay.”
“He did.” 
“So I’ll be staying then.”
“No” 
You were not going to let him get to you.  You were not going to let him get to you.  You were not going to let him get to you.  You were not going to let him get to you. 
You groaned loudly. You were acting like a child but you didn’t care.
“Are you so desperate to share a bed with me? One starts to wonder why that may be.” He turned and asked you salaciously. 
“Ugh what is wrong with you I just want to go to sleep I’m tired, it was fine yesterday wasn’t it? I will stay right on the edge of the bed again, that wasn’t too annoying right?” You were starting to ramble now.
“Everything you do annoys me.” He said flippantly. 
Embarrassingly, tears started to well up in your eyes. 
Why was he so difficult?
“Don’t cry you halfwit” He looked at you with an air of disgust and rolled his eyes. “Since you are so eager I shall be a merciful God and allow you to remain in my tent this night.”  
You were surprised that a few tears had moved the God of mischief so, but you were thankful all the same.
“Thank you” You breathed out and Loki watched you as you stepped towards the bed and pulled back the covers. 
“Erm where’s the shirt I was wearing last night.”
He smirked, “I burnt it.” 
“What? Why?” 
Loki stiffened “I do not want anything in my bed which belongs to the idiots three.”
You sighed, “Who?”
“Thor and his band of nitwits.” Loki snorted “Fandral Volstagg and Hogan. Sif gets an honourable mention too.” 
You recognised half of those names. 
“Okay. Well, what am I going to sleep in?”
“That’s hardly my problem is it mortal.” 
“I don’t want to sleep in my clothes” You whined.
“Norns mortal you are insufferable.” Loki barked, standing suddenly and taking a large pace in your direction.
“I’m sorry!” You shrieked and hid your face behind your hands, genuinely thinking he was about to smite you or something. 
When nothing happened you peeked through the gaps in your fingers to see Loki shooting you an odd look and then he threw something at you. 
It took a second for your brain to catch up with the idea you were still alive and you took your hands away from your face. You realised Loki had thrown a shirt at you. It was green, unsurprisingly and felt softer than the one you had worn yesterday. 
“Oh, erm, thanks.” 
Loki looked at you haughtily, “Thanks indeed. It is enough I have to sleep next to you I don’t want to have to smell you too.”
Oh god did he mean that you smelt bad? Considering you were in the same clothes for two days you had thought you didn’t smell that gross yet. Maybe he had super human sent or something, or maybe humans smelt horrible to Asgardians? That can’t be right, Thor had a mortal girlfriend didn’t he. 
Loki was now smirking at you which was worrying you.
“I’m going to get changed now.” You stated.
His smile grew wider,
“Okay.” He stayed staring at you. 
Pervert. Why wasn’t he turning around.
You felt your face growing hot, 
“I thought you had no desire to watch me get changed?” you quipped, quoting his words that morning. 
He chortled, “you’re right I don’t. I do however, enjoy watching you squirm.” 
“Ergh.” 
He chortled again but did turn around. 
You got changed quickly, ensuring you were never fully naked in case he turned around which definitely seemed like something he would do. 
“I’m finished now.”
“Wonderful.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. 
You climbed into bed and pulled the covers back up tight. 
Without care for propriety, Loki took his clothes off, barely giving you enough time to close your eyes. 
“Could you not warn me first when you are going to do that.”
“Do what?” Loki asked you, in mock confusion.
“Take your clothes off!” 
Loki climbed into the bed next to you, and rested on his arm peering down at you. 
“Right now?” He smirked.
You recoiled, your face heating up again. 
“It’s my tent little mortal. You Midgardians are so prudish.”
“I’m not prudish I just don’t sexually harass everyone I meet.” You huffed.
“Believe me, you are not the focus of my interest.”
Whatever. You sunk down into the bed, happy to finally be resting and scooted to the edge of the bed. As soon as Loki was settled he snapped his fingers and the candle blew out just as last night.
“Night then.”
Loki didn’t reply. 
85 notes · View notes
mistress-ofmagic · 2 years
Text
Around The Realms in 80 Days Chapter 5
Pairing: Reader x Loki
Story summary: You have fallen through a portal during the convergence into Asgard and come face to face with Thor, and his brother Loki. With no way to return, you must travel with the two men and their hoard of asgardian soldiers to get back home. Things get from bad to worse when you have to share a tent with the god of mischief himself.
Warnings: Still no warnings for now other than language I guess (i’m British, come on what did you expect?) there will be eventual smut in the series but not for a while because I am a slow burn queen.
Notes: We got a bit more plot and intrigue in this chapter, let me know what you think
Read this story on a03!
Read the fist part on Tumblr here:
You woke very early the next morning, you opened your eyes to see the tent was still dark, with streaks of moonlight coming in through a slight gap in the tent opening. You wondered what had woke you, until you realised you could also hear heavy rain and wind bouncing off the tents exterior. Normally, you liked listening to the rain, but knowing you were going to be outside riding in the rain, exposed to all elements in only a few hours was filling you with dread. 
You turned as quietly as you could in the bed and turned to face the God beside you. His long black hair falling over his face framing his pale, flawless skin illuminated in the moonlight. The usual crease he had in his forehead was smoothed over and he had a peaceful look of serenity on his face. He looked sort of… pretty like this. 
You wondered how he would react if you told him he was pretty and couldn’t help but grin to yourself. Somehow you didn’t think that this intimidating dark prince would appreciate being called ‘pretty.’ 
He shuffled in his sleep and creased his forehead. You had the sudden urge to smooth it back out with your fingers, but decided that wouldn’t go down well either. 
Loki huffed “what, girl?” 
Shit, you thought he was asleep. 
Still he was much less intimidating with bed hair.
“Nothing, the rain woke me.”
“Hm.” 
He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. “A storm is coming, it will make travel difficult.” 
“Isn’t Thor like god of storms or something?” You asked. 
Loki rubbed his face and snorted “God of Thunder mortal.” 
“He can’t stop the storm then?” 
“No, he’s not a weather deity.”
“Whose the weather deity?”
“Freyr.”
“Why didn’t we bring her with us instead?”
Loki seemed to find this very amusing. You didn’t understand why, but you did enjoy that something you had said had managed to make this terrifying god laugh humorously.
“Freyr is a God, not a Goddess.” He laughed again  “go back to sleep mortal. You will need your strength today.” 
You closed your eyes again, noticing the gap between the two of you had lessoned slightly. 
The next time you woke, he had gone.
                                                                       ***
You had been traveling in the cold rain for a few hours now, and had lost all the feeling in your fingers. You sighed and a large drop fell down your nose; you wanted to cry. You were cold and miserable, and the rest of the man faired the same, there was much less chatter today. The weather effected everyone it seemed. 
“We’re not far away now Miss.” Halvor said from behind you, noticing you starting to shiver. 
“Aye, we’ll be there soon enough” Volstagg agreed cheerfully from next to you. 
Volstagg it seemed, was immune from any dispirited feelings. 
“What’s the place called? Where we are going I mean.” 
“Deill Miss.” 
“How long will we be staying there?”
“Two nights I believe.”
“What’s it like?” 
To your surprise Volstagg sighed; 
“It will be an interesting visit. Tis but a small village relatively speaking, charged by a lady named Yrsa. Her father, Frode, used to be one of Odins top military strategist, and a close friend. Something happened and they fell out a long time ago, and Frode left the capital, taking his wife, children and some supporters with him. He never proved too much trouble, but he passed away and his daughter is now leader. There have been rumours of uprisings since Yrsa took charge, and apparent dalliances with the barbarians.” 
“The barbarians?”
“People who do not wish to live under Odins rule. They can normally be kept at bay, but a collusion with Lady Yrsa’s village and the barbarians could prove a more dangerous threat.” 
‘What happened? Between Odin and.. Frodo?”
“Frode. No one is sure” Volstagg shrugged “It’s not uncommon for… people to fall out with Odin, he does not always make popular decisions.” 
The main message you took from this was that you were going to be entering somewhere you weren’t particularly welcome, if they didn’t like Thor and Loki you doubted they would like you.  
“It is an important visit. If Loki is to become king one day, Norns help us all, it is imperative he makes a good impression. Or rather, amend his previous impression of being a reckless villain let we loose the trust of all our allies.” 
Yeah right. You doubted Loki had ever made a good first impression. 
 “It is important for other reasons too, if Thor and Loki can keep the peace it might curtail any thoughts Yrsa has of rebellion. Neither the king nor the Princes have toured outside of the capital for a while, and this tour is intended to sooth over any unease.” 
“Well, if they have hot water so I can have a proper wash and shelter so I can get out of this rain that’s all that matters to me.” You stated. 
Volstagg laughed, 
“That they will, Latte. And a feast to welcome the Princes, which is my personal favourite part!” He roared. 
Apparently your stupid coffee nickname had caught on. God you missed coffee. 
Thoughts of a caffeinated beverage left your mind however when you finally reached the village. From what you could see, the whole village was surrounded by a high wall with only one main entrance. The village walls themselves were besieged by thick foliage, with tall pine trees. 
Volstagg had said that it was a small village, but from what you could see it was anything but small. It was busy, with many people milling about and when they saw the prince’s progression they started to wave and cheer. They seemed pretty happy to see Thor at least, and there were cries and chants of his name. You guessed it was kind of like seeing a celebrity walking through your town. There were also a few curious glances your way, you weren’t too bothered, assuming they were probably trying to work out why you were with the kings progression when you were clearly not a solider nor dressed in Asgardian clothing.
Finally seeing woman and men not dressed in armour, confirmed your suspicions that the people of Asgard seemed to dress like they were in the medieval period on Earth for some reason. The woman wore long floaty dresses, and then men donned loose shirts and tunics. 
 People had started to come out of their shops and homes to wage the progression past. You grinned and waved back at some of them, which resulted in a few strange looks. 
Soon, the crowds started to thin as you rode past fewer and fewer houses or shops. You finally came to some metal gates in front of a large pathway leading both ways around a lake. At the top of the lake stood a pretty stone castle.
A woman on a high white horse was at the gates when you arrived. She had very long straight deep brown hair, with a large plat across the top of her head and two thick plats either side. She swung down from her horse when you got closer
“Lady Yrsa!” Thor called and jumped down from his horse too, followed by Loki and Fandral.
“My Princes.” Yrsa curtsied deeply. 
“No need for formalities! Please call me, Loki.” Loki took Yrsa’s hand and kissed it. 
Erm did you have to call him ‘ your highness’ then? 
She smiled at him graciously. 
“Welcome to Deill. I trust your journey here was not too arduous?” 
“Takes more than a little rain to stop me my Lady.” Loki winked. 
You were in awe at the scene in front of you. You were yet to see this charming side of Loki, although given that he was a prince he must have been brought up with some manners and decorum. It was in stark contrast to the way he had treated you for the most of your time here and it made you kind of irritated. He knew how to be nice he just choose to not act like that with you. 
“Come, let’s get you inside from the cold.” She leaped gracefully back onto her horse and the men did the same. 
She led you through the gates and the rest of the party followed. As you rode past the lake you noticed how the reflection of the castle shimmered in the water. You stopped as you reached the castle entrance and Halvor helped you down from the horse. 
“My men will take care of your horses and take them to the stables. They will be fed and looked after, rest assured.” Yrsa waved her hand in the direction of two men stood in the rain who nodded. 
You followed the progression into the castle, happy to finally be inside. You took in your surroundings, a large hexagonal entrance way, with high ceilings leading up to a glass dome above you. The stone walls were exposed, decorated with tapestries. 
“Your highnesses, I will show you to your rooms. My maid will take the rest of the men to their sleeping quarters.” 
You were too busy staring up at the high ceilings and walls and wondering how they had got the tapestries up there in the first place and if Asgardians had really big ladders to notice what was happening, and you started following Halvor without thinking.
“Halt.” Yrsa put her hand up in a stopping motion before you could go any further and asked curiously,
“Is that a… mortal?”
Is that a mortal? You pulled a face.  
Also how did she know you were a mortal you wondered. You figured it was one of those things, like when you went to other countries and they spoke to you in your native language, knowing you were not from their country based on your mannerisms. 
“Did you pick one up from your time on Midgard?”  She asked Loki.
First of all how dare she?
Loki smirked maliciously at you, as if he could tell what you were thinking. 
“No” He shrugged “she’s a stray.” 
“I fell through the convergence” you clarified, already sick of being talked at rather than to.
Yrsa raised her eyebrows in surprise, as if she couldn’t believe you could actually speak.  
“How…interesting!” She smiled quizzically “Why have you not sent her home?”
Thor and Loki shared a quick look between them, you would have nearly missed it had you not been glaring at Loki. 
“We tried, believe me but just she begged to stay.” Loki smirked.
Wait why were they not telling the truth about what happened? About Heimdall and him not sending for you? 
“Well actually - “You began, stepping forward.  
“I’m very tired, may we see our rooms now?” Thor suddenly spoke loudly.
You tried to catch his eye to shoot him a strange look but he purposefully avoided your gaze. 
Yrsa turend to him “Of course your highness, apologies.”
She then looked at you, “Mortals are very fragile and quick to sicken so I’ve heard, and they are so small and weak. This one is shivering, I shall allow it to sleep in chambers.” 
She looked at you expectantly, were you supposed to thank her for letting you had a bedroom? It seemed so. 
“Thank you my Lady, is is extremely hospitable of you to accommodate for the mortal.”
Yrsa and Loki smiled at each other and it made you feel a bit sick.
“Let me take you to your rooms.” 
You followed Yrsa, Loki and Thor at a small distance, all of them having irritated you. They were chatting between the three of them. Not that you were in much place to act moody, but being talked about like you didn’t exist had put a bad taste in your mouth. Asgardian views of people from Earth had been made very clear to you, and suddenly you were not surprised as much with Loki’s perceptions of humans beings being idiots who needed to be ruled.
Yrsa had taken you through one of the doors in the hexagonal room, and led you along twisting corridors with more tapestries. As you walked you noticed the tapestries seemed to be telling a story, you didn’t fully understand it, but you managed to spot Thor and Loki as well as some creepy looking guys that kind of looked like Voldemort. 
You came to stop outside a door and Yrsa looked down at you. 
“Here mortal. You may stay here during your time. You will find sleeping quarters and bathing facilities. I will arrange for someone to bring you new clothes.” 
“Thanks.”
You were grateful for the opportunity to take a bath and new clothes so you decided to put down your qualms for now and enter the door. 
You were greeted with a nice looking room, a four poster bed with red velvet curtains and en suite leading to a stone bathroom. It was clean, quiet and Loki free, all of the things you were looking for in a current place to sleep. 
You immediately entered the bathroom and stripped off, running yourself a hot bath. You nosied around in the cupboards until you found a little glass vial that looked like it could be some form of body wash or shampoo. You jumped in and sighed, giving yourself chance to luxuriate while you could. You seriously considered just staying in the bath for the next two days until you left this place and had to get traveling again. 
You panicked when you heard someone coming into your room, until a voice called out, 
“I am here to bring some clothes miss, I have left them on your bed. Prince Thor wished for me to tell you that there is to be a feast soon, and that someone will collect you in an hour.” 
You calmed down when you heard them leave. Now you thought about it, you were pretty hungry and it must be past lunchtime by now. You stayed in the bath as long as possible until the water had tuned cold and then went to inspect your new garments. As expected, you had been provided with a long floaty dress which seemed to be the pinnacle of Asgardian woman fashion. You were surprised to see that it wasn’t too long on you, before dreadfully realising that it was probably a childs dress. Still, it fit, it was comfy and it was not the same clothes you had been wearing for the past two and a half days. 
You felt fresher and better than you had done since you arrived on this godforsaken planet, the healing power of a hot bath having worked wonders. 
There was a knock on the door, and you went to answer it, feeling definitely ready to eat.  
Unfortunately, when you opened the door Loki stood scowling down at you. You were not overjoyed at seeing him either, 
“I have been charged with babysitting you again it seems.” He glared at you as if you were the one that had given him such a task.
Loki turned and took large strides down the corridor, and you figured he wanted you to follow him.  You had to jog slightly to keep up with his steps. 
“Hey, how come you didn’t tell Yrsa the truth about the bi-thingy?” You asked him, slightly breathlessly due to the jogging.
In a matter of seconds, Loki had grabbed your arm and pinned you up against the wall. You weren’t exactly sure what had annoyed him now to create such a dramatic reaction to a simple question but you weren’t overly found of being held against your will. 
 He had boxed you in against the wall and you couldn’t push out of his grip, and he stared down at you, anger dancing in his eyes. 
“Wha-“ 
“Quiet.” He hissed as he put his hand over your mouth. 
He looked around shiftily, as if he was making sure no one was around before he spoke in a hushed voice,
“Do not speak of things you do not understand.”
You pushed on his arm furiously until he moved it from your mouth.
“Well then explain to me!” You whispered harshly, 
He rolled his eyes, and you thought he was going to ignore you, but continued to speak in a hissed whisper, 
“Something is happening.”
“Great thanks for that, very helpful.” You pushed against him again to get him off.
He tutted at you and put his hand over your mouth again. 
“Norns you’re a mouthy wench. The bifrost is guarded by a keeper, Heimdall. He wields the power of the rainbow bridge, which works to allow Asgardians to travel from realms. Heimdall sees and hears all.” 
Loki paused for a second and looked around him again before continuing quietly, 
“Because of this, he can be relied on to be called upon to help any Asgardians who need help, but he didn’t respond when Thor called.”
He looked at you meaningfully, but you were struggling to follow. He was very close to you, and you could smell his aftershave, orangey and woody with a hint of mint. Loki’s voice was like what you assumed listening to chocolate would sound like, silky and smooth and now he whispered it took all your energy not to melt. He could definitely start an ASMR channel if he wanted to. His blue eyes were boring into your own very intensely and you didn’t know where to look. His eyes were so nice to look at, but they also made you feel a bit giddy.
Your faraway look must have shown on your face because Loki rolled his eyes again and then spoke very carefully. 
“Heimdall not responding to his duties is suspicious indeed. This combined with the issues with the convergence -“
He stopped speaking and his eyes widened. A maid turned down the corridor and started walking past you. She smiled and bowed to Loki before continuing. You were embarrassed to note that she didn’t seem overly bothered by him clearly holding a mortal hostage. When she was out of sight Loki lent in closer. 
“Do not speak of these things in front of lady Yrsa and her court. The last thing we need is more unsettlement. It would be wise to be cautious during your time here. These are strange times and it is not safe for a mortal to be in Asgard. You would do well to leave as soon as you get the chance, do you understand?” 
Was he actually warning you? You were confused; you were under the impression Loki couldn’t give two hoots about if you were safe or not given that he’d been the one causing you the most danger so far during your time here. You were surprised at this small display of decency, and remembered how he had given you a shirt to sleep in the night previous. Your hardened perspective of him wavered slightly. 
Loki seemed to be waiting for something, so you nodded as best you could with the little space you had with your head against the wall. He seemed satisfied and let you go, stepping back as he did so and drawing himself up to his full hight as if nothing had happened.  
“Come, we will be late.” 
He started strutting down the corridor again and you kept up as best as you could, considering his words. Things already seemed way more complicated than you wanted them to be, and you hoped you could get home soon and not have to be a part of this anymore. This was not your battle you just needed to get through these next few weeks. 
Loki stopped outside a large wooden patterned door. 
“Here mortal. The smaller hall, where we are gathering for lunch. There will be another, larger and rowdier feast tonight, i’d recommend not filling up too much. Don’t start eating until Lady Yrsa starts and start with the smallest cutlery first.” 
“Erm right.” You were still unsure why Loki had decided to be helpful but you were thankful. You must have looked slightly panicked as Loki said,
“Don’t fret, they won’t be expecting you to have table manners” 
“Well thanks I guess.”
He opened the door and you followed him through. The room you entered was large, with a huge wooden table running down the middle of it. Yrsa sat at the head of the table, an older lady was set next to her on her right, and on her left, a young woman that looked so much like Yrsa she could only be a relation. Thor was also seated at the top end of the table, where as Halvor you noticed, was towards the middle. It seemed to you that the seating arrangement was based on status. Sucks to be at the bottom of the table. Making up the rest of the numbers around the table where mainly the men you had been travelling and a few that you didn’t recognise.  
You weren’t sure where you were supposed to be sat and you assumed you’d be so far at the end of the table you’d be out the door, but Thor waved you over so you followed Loki towards the top. The table was covered in delicious looking food, fruit and cold meats and bread and your stomach rumbled. 
You slid into the seat that Thor offered for you, sitting diagonally across from Loki. Yrsa stood up and held her goblet up. 
“Welcome, Prince Thor and Prince Loki and to all who travel with them. We are indebted to have the royal party staying with us in Deill. I hope your time here will be comfortable. Now, raise your goblets.”
You picked up the cup in front of you and peered in. It had contained some light blue liquid which seemed to gently swirl and shimmer in the goblet. 
“Skål! She shouted. 
Everyone in the room chorused “Skål” and downed their drinks.
You took a sip of the strange liquid. It was nice actually, it tasted like sweet elderflower and you took another sip. You were so busy focused on your drink, that you jumped when people around the room shouted “another!” And proceeded to smash their goblets on the floor. Your eyes widened, did you have to do that? You hadn’t finished yet, what if you offended the Asgardians by not following their traditions?
Luckily, no one seemed to bring it up, and you noticed Yrsa starting to eat so you figured you could too. You focused on filling up your plate with different meat, cheeses and bread, taking what looked like things you would enjoy before Volstagg ate it all. You had barely filled your plate up when you noticed he was half way through his second plate. 
“Mortal, how are you finding your visit to Asgard?” Yrsa addressed you.
You were so shocked at being talked to that it took you a second to think of an answer. 
“Yeah, erm great.”
Very eloquent well done. 
‘Why do you travel with a mortal?” The girl you assumed was Yrsa’s sister asked. 
“She came to us through the convergence, Lady Ylva.  Latte wanted to come with us to explore Asgard for a little while.” Thor answered.
“How queer” Yrsa’s sister, Ylva, stated.
“What do you do Mortal?” Yrsa asked, taking a bite of bread.
The question threw you. You cleared your throat, 
“Well I work in social media e-marketing.” 
Everybody looked at you. 
“Is that a dangerous occupation?” 
You snorted, 
“Erm, no.” 
“But you are trained in combat? Or do you weald magic?"
Before you could answer, Loki spoke up,
“From my time on Midgard I have come to learn more about their ways and culture. I have learnt that mortals are rather dull creatures, with a very limited understanding of their universe. Their technology is behind and the vast majority possess no interesting or intelligent qualities.”
Harsh much? Just when you thought he was starting to act okayish. 
You focused on your food again, buttering your bread a bit more severely than normal and grinding your teeth. You had settled into a bitter reverence when the doors of the hall you were in swung open. A young servant boy ran in to the hall, as white as a ghost and panting. 
“Your ladyship, your highnesses” he took a few deep breaths.
“Out with it boy” Yrsa stood. 
“Trolls, my lady! Trolls have gotten into the village!”  
82 notes · View notes