Project Phoenix Chapter 14
The Routine
The Manifestation || The Power Play || The Green-Eyed Fly || The Middle of The Night || The Alternative || The Attic || The House || The God of Mischief || The Kill || The Night || The Collar || The Training || The Week Without A God of Mischief
Summary: Kate’s a normal teenage Midgardian girl; except there’s a Loki in her attic, and now S.H.I.E.L.D.’s after her, and also, she has powers. Apparently, she’s meant to save the world.
She just wanted to finish school and maybe fall in love—at least she’s accomplishing one of those.
Relationships: Gen, F/M (Loki/Original Female Character)
Rating: M (Graphic Depictions of Violence, Underage if you squint bit—nothing occurs while characters are underage, Sexual Content)
Mood: Timelapse, Illumina Anthology
The heavy feeling of sleep weighed on her. Kate barely noticed the slight nudge she received.
“Kate,” the voice said. It was silky.
Kate groaned. “Saturday,” she grumbled.
“Well, I beg your pardon, I thought you’d want to see me.”
Kate did her best to crack open her eyes. Above her head lay a lean face with cheekbones like no other. She smiled, desperately dragging herself out of sleep. She lazily raised her arms. “Hug me.”
Leanna laughed, half-picking-up her upper body to allow her sister to hug her.
Kate smiled. “How’s college?”
“Difficult.”
“How’s the significant other?”
Leanna dropped her back on the bed and Kate sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. When she finished the little ritual, Leanna had her hand held out. Kate looked down and saw a ring, pretty and golden with a small diamond in the center. A smile spread across her entire face. She squealed a little. “Congratulations!”
Leanna laughed and smiled. “We were taking a walk around campus one night, and he took me into a gazebo with little lights and proposed, and it was the most romantic thing ever.”
“Have you started planning yet?”
“We’re going to wait until after I graduate to really start the planning so I’ll hopefully have more of a solidified job. James said he wants to marry me, so he put a ring on it in case we ever get in a fight.”
“That’s kinda adorable.”
“I know.”
Kate giggled with her sister, aware of the shadow looming by the closet. She got out of bed, stretched, and expanded her mind. She’d gotten better at it through the week and could not do it while also focusing on something else. Can training wait?
She heard Loki sigh in her mind. Of course.
Thank you.
Leanna and her went downstairs, Jake not bothering to get up because it was so early. Loki had receeded after their little exchange, and Kate didn’t feel him following her, so she relaxed. “Since you’re apparently a master of romance, could you give me some advice?”
Leanna cooed. “Who’s the boy?”
Kate bit her lip nervously. “He’s a bit older, and we met online—”
Leanna cut her off with a wave of her hand. “He’s a predator.”
Kate set to making breakfast. “No, we’ve video chatted, and I’ve even met his mom briefly. He’s who he says he is.”
“Okay, and?”
“I dunno. I’m just emotion-ing, and I’m not used to something other than numb, and then I met him, and it’s not all numb all the time.”
Her eyebrow rose as she grabbed one of the waffles from the box and ate of frozen. “What kind of emotions?”
Kate gave her a look and began to toast her own waffles. “I can’t tell whether its anxiety or butterflies. They feel the same.”
“Both?”
Kate shrugged.
“How old is he?”
“Eighteen…”
Leanna’s eyes went wide. “Kate, oh my gosh!”
“What?”
“That’s two years older than you!”
“And? How old is James?”
“We’re adults.”
Kate gave her sister another look. “Uh-huh.”
A comfortable silence settled over them. “I like your hair.”
Kate smiled, playing with it. “Oh, thanks. I got it done a few days ago at the salon after my shift.” She almost began to believe herself. After a week’s worth of nothing, she could believe it had all been a dream.
Leanna had gone out for lunch with a few friends from home. Kate ventured back up to her room and shut the door behind her. Jake had left at some point, she noticed, as she closed the curtains and looked around. She could not find the God of Mischief. “Loki?”
Something roughly grabbed her by the back of the head, yanking her by the hair so she was looking up at Loki’s angry face. In his hand, he had a foot-long chunk of hair still tied by a rubber band. About eight inches of it were brown, but the rest was a pure silverish-white.
He spoke through gritted teeth. “What did you do?”
He outright reaction was to hide, run and hide, but she smothered it and met his rage. “I got it done at the salon?” She hadn’t meant to phrase it as a question.
His grip was starting to hurt. “Lies,” he hissed. Loki let go of her head, shoving her so hard she almost fell.
“What the hell, man?!” Kate exclaimed, holding her head where he had grabbed her hair so roughly and praying he hadn’t ripped any of it out. As far as she could tell, her hair was alright.
Loki stormed a few feet, and Kate hoped the barrier was still keeping others from overhearing any of their goings-on. If not, she would have to weave quite the lie. “Did I give you permission to use seiðr without me near?”
Kate scoffed. The fear was gone now, replaced by a temper Kate hoped could match his. “I didn’t know it was a privilege, Your Highness.”
He whirled around, his lip twitching. “Yes, girl, it is a privilege to use seiðr. Do you know how few are able to? How few Asgardians are able to, let alone mortals? Do you know what danger you put yourself in?”
Much to her chagrin, Kate shrank away. What had she done? “Apparently not.” He voice dripped venom. “Why don’t you educate me?”
Loki took a deep breath. “Were you near any cameras?”
He’s worried about that? “No, I wasn’t. I made sure to cover them up before I attempted anything.”
“Good.” Kate could practically feel him patting her atop the head. Perhaps he actually was via sending out some sort of ghost hand. “I must keep you safe.”
Kate raised her eyebrows. “You’re the one who made me have powers.” She didn’t need anyone to ‘keep her safe.’
“You already had them, I merely awoke them.” And just like that, his fury had disappeared. He vexed Kate, just turning emotion on and off like that. “Now, take up a fighting stance.”
“Why?”
“I am going to teach you hand-to-hand combat.”
Kate didn’t know any actual hand-to-hand combat other than what she’d seen while watching The Karate Kid. She took a stance, and Loki frowned.
“Pivot your left foot slightly—no, the other way—now, move your right forward slightly; place your left foot back where I told you. Raise your hands a bit and space them out more. A little more—less than that. Stop! That’s perfect.”
“It feels more uncomfortable than perfect.”
“I suppose you’ll just have to deal with a little discomfort, now, won’t you, little Kitten?”
“We’re starting that again?”
He smiled a sly smile. “Oh, would you like me to call you something else? How about smár Ketlingr?”
Kate gave him a look. “Is that just your version of ‘little kitten?’”
She could have sworn she saw him smile genuinely. “You’re getting better at figuring out my native tongue.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “You didn’t insult me, you said a word, then said it in another language. That’s easy.”
He scoffed. “Very well. I won’t compliment you.”
Her lip rose. “Am I gonna do anything or just stay like this?”
Loki looked down at her. “Well, while we were talking, you lowered your hands. I could very easily punch you in the nose at the moment.”
“You could do that anyway.”
“I suppose you are correct.”
Kate’s mood had soured due to his outburst. She’d been excited to feel that cold rush ripple through her body, but now all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and not exist for a little while. She’d forgotten just how terrifying he was.
It took most of the afternoon for Kate to figure out how to channel her emotion. Loki had to lend some of his own anger—she didn’t even want to know how he did that—and she was able to shoot a few icicles into the target.
He had been right; it wasn’t long before he stopped siphoning his power, and Kate was exhausted. She flopped down on her bed and sighed. Sweat moistened her back, and she almost wanted to take her shirt off—just let the cool air conditioning be on her skin. He, in comparison, looked completely unhindered.
“Hey, Loki?”
“Yes, mortal?”
She blinked and stared absent-mindedly at the ceiling. “You tried to take over the world, right?”
“Yes, mortal.”
“So, why aren’t you in prison?”
Kate heard him sigh. “Must I remind you I am called silvertongue?”
“Apparently.”
A content silence fell over them. Kate’s eyelids felt heavy. “Are we going train tomorrow, too?”
“I don’t see as to why not.”
She hummed and rolled to her side. “Why are you so angry?”
“Rest. I will be here when you awaken.”
“Can’t you answer my questions?”
He shushed her and patted her head. Sleep was inescapable, and before Kate could even speak another word, she succumbed to the spell Loki had cast.
Sunday was the same, except for that Loki was in his Marvel form. Kate woke up, she ate breakfast and spent the morning with her Dad and siblings because it was Father’s Day, then the afternoon was spent up in her room with the God of Mischief.
“Why aren’t you imprisoned?” He still hadn’t answered her question, no matter how much she badgered him.
“Concentrate your anger.”
“Why aren’t you imprisoned?”
“Don’t let your stance slacken.”
“Why aren’t you imprisoned?”
He looked slightly ticked-off. “Must you be so incessant?”
“Yes.”
He groaned. “If I answer you, will you stop asking questions?”
“Maybe.”
He gave her a look but sighed in resignation. “I have been given a… reprieve, of sorts. The Allfather and his courts are trying to figure out what to do with me. If I wasn’t who I was, perhaps I might already have a sentence, but I simply bide my time at the moment.”
“So, they just, like, let you walk around on the planet you tried to take over?”
He laughed. “Oh, no, darling. I sneak away. That is why I can only stay for a few days at a time.”
“Why haven’t they decided yet? Wasn’t that like twenty-twelve or something?”
He shrugged. “Five years is not long to the gods. I’m kept on a tight leash for now, but I am certain I can persuade Mother to shorten my sentence.”
Kate nodded her head in thought. “Can you stay until tomorrow? I don’t have any school since it’s summer and I’m not working until Tuesday, so we could hypothetically smoosh in some training time.”
Apparently, her speech was funny. “Perhaps. Now, concentrate.”
She did as she was told, focusing the energy jittering through her. She’d carbo-loaded about a half-hour ago so now she was really feeling the cold as it bounced through her like microscopic waves of sound.
Kate woke up in a cold sweat. Jake was at her feet, and Mars wasn’t in the room. She carefully got up, pacing the room back and forth and focusing on her breath. Her legs trembled, so she sat down and began to rock.
Loki’s shadow appeared from somewhere, and he came nearer to her. “Are you experiencing anxiety?”
She wanted to spit out some sharp retort (it was quite obvious what was going on), but she could only manage a weak “yes.”
Loki sat down beside Kate, staying as far away from Jake as possible and awkwardly wrapping his arm around her. She accepted the comfort and leaned her head against his shoulder.
Kate knew she’d regret it in the morning, but at the moment, she let herself be weak and closed her eyes. She breathed in his scent and let herself be, even if just for a little while.
Loki stayed until Monday evening. When Kate went running in the morning, he followed her as a bird, flittering from branch to branch in the trees as he followed her and Jake. She traversed all three cul-de-sacs, much to Jake’s dismay, and collapsed on the couch when he got home. You’re getting stronger, Loki commented as he turned into something akin to a ghost.
Kate knew she was the only one who could see him. Thanks. I try. She chugged some water while Jake lapped at the water bowl. She could feel herself weakening from the training and desperately needed a break.
She wished she hadn’t asked him to stay.
After her run and a bit of mental training, he recognized her fatigue. He nodded to her, whisking himself off to what she assumed was Asgard.
The week went on and Kate started a little project with Jake. Now that he was getting into a shape that wasn’t tubular, Kate wanted to play with him more often. He wanted to play more often, as well, she noticed.
She worked on the little wooden jumps and hoops in the evening, her dad helping her cut the wood and sand it down until it was smooth. Amidst Loki’s comings-and-goings, they worked on the project and had it finished in just a week and a half.
Kate brought out the little set and placed it in the yard. In her hand was a baggie of kibble and at her side was her dog. It took a few million times for him to get it, but by the next Saturday, she had something to show to Loki.
Saturday morning she woke bright and early. Well, bright was an overstatement. Loki nudged her awake before the sun had even fully risen.
“What?” she grumbled.
He chuckled softly in her ear. She knew he was trying to make chills run down her spine, and it was working.
“On Asgard, you liked to watch the sun rise. I thought I might grant you that pleasure.”
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked up at him. “You woke me up for the sunrise?”
He stood to his full height, walking over to the curtains and opening them. “Who knows when you may get to see one again?”
“Tomorrow? You know, when the sun rises again?”
“Would you like to wake you then, as well?”
“No thanks,” begrudgingly, she pulled herself out of bed. She didn’t want to get up, but Loki had gone through the trouble of waking her up, so she was going to get up for him and watch the sun rise.
It was beginning to get hotter every day, and Kate had worn an old t-shirt to bed. It covered what needed to be covered, but just barely, and she wasn’t wearing pants underneath. Loki looked away until she had a pair of shorts on.
He cast an illusion over himself and followed her out of her room, walking down the stairs and outside. Kate sat down on the driveway and looked eastward. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, and her view was blocked by trees, so all she could see what the purplish sky bleeding into the darkness.
“Can other people see you?”
“No, being the only one will just have to suffice.”
She laughed. Loki was already worming his way into her routine, and, after a mere two weeks and a day, he felt normal. Well, maybe not normal, but normal enough.
Kate smiled to herself. Friend, she thought. I was a rather incomplete notion, but it was enough for her.
She stood out in the yard, whistling at Jake until he jumped over the jump. It wasn’t at all high—it couldn’t be since he was a corgi—but he acted as though it was a struggle. Kate whistled again, and he hopped over the second jump. He easily went through the double set of hoops, then followed the little trail of kibble through the tunnel she’d bought at a yard sale.
Loki looked genuinely impressed she’d trained the beast to do something upon command.
He left Sunday evening, and Kate spent the week lounging around, mainly. She’d wake up, eat breakfast, go for a run, rest, maybe try some magic that wouldn’t drastically affect anything so Loki wouldn’t notice, then relax.
Leanna flew back to Virginia. The fall semester hadn’t started yet, but she had to go back for work and to be with James. Kate had already set to teasing her sister about their puppy love.
Max’s nightmares ceased, so Kate was sleeping a little better. Her dreams were now filled with the adventures Loki told her about.
He told her about Asgard’s golden palace and the rainbow bridge and the sweeping forests. Of course, she knew what they looked like from movies, but only to an extent. He told her of the halls and secrets and of the paintings she could only imagine.
He told her of the Nine Realms and the politics of each of them—the Jötnar were the most interesting since they were one of the only realms other than Midgard to have factions of people.
But, this dream was… different. She didn’t know what the act looked like, only knew how it worked mechanically, but she felt her mind very, very heavily implying what was going on.
When Kate was finally able to pull herself out of the dream, she was blushing profusely. It took her a moment to realize her own hand was stuffed between her thighs.
She peeled her palm away from her underwear—of course, she hadn’t worn at least shorts to bed that night—and stood up. It was far from being light out and the house was silent. She went into the bathroom, running the water and washing her hands overly-thoroughly before rinsing off her heated face. When she stood, she almost expected Loki to be standing behind her and startled when the mental image she’d created didn’t match reality.
“What the actual heck,” she muttered to herself and went to bed.
It took her all week to forget the dream and having Loki return on Saturday certainly didn’t help.
Even when he wasn’t there, she could call upon her cold now. A few icicles still drained her of any and all energy, but she could summon it if need be.
Loki seemed to pick up on her change in behavior, no matter how well Kate thought she was hiding it. “Are you alright, Ketlingr?” He hadn’t stopped calling her that since the first time.
“Yeah, just jumpy.” She hoped it would be enough.
“And why is that?”
“Movie.”
“Really?” He sounded far too intrigued. “What kind of movie?”
“A scary movie.”
He tisked. “Darling, you know you can’t watch those; you have panic attacks for weeks afterward.”
“I get those anyway.” Kate sat down on her bed and threw her head between her legs, collecting her hair into a generalized bundle and tying it up. Her roots should have started growing back in by now, so she planned on asking Loki if he could show her how to cast some sort of illusion.
Once her head was back upright, he reached down and fixed a few of the fly-aways. He even retrieved a bobby-pin from her dresser and pinned them down, all without her even asking him to.
Alright then, she thought. “Is there some sort of spell we could cast that would make it look like I have brown roots?”
Loki cocked his head. “There is, but you wouldn’t have the strength, and I’m not wasting my seiðr on such a trifle.”
“If it’s such a trifle, it shouldn’t cost you too much, right?”
“Casting enchantments across realms is surprisingly tiresome, girl.”
She raised her lip at him. Thankfully, he hadn’t felt the need to collar her as of recent.
Sunday came and went as always, as well as the rest of the week. On Saturday morning, Kate awoke to find Loki nowhere. She casually looked around the house, but he was nowhere to be found. She raised her eyebrow and decided to treat the day as she normally would. Perhaps he is simply late?
After her run, she showered, and the God of Mischief still had not shown up. Kate settled down to sketch out of boredom when he suddenly opened the door to her bedroom and strolled in as if it were normal.
“I was wondering where you were—on another adventure?” Loki’s gaze was somber and Kate’s relatively-happy mood deflated instantly. “What’s wrong?”
“I must tell you something.”
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My super amazing Loki dream
It’s super long but really elaborate and detailed, yall know how I do.
I was at this really fancy, high-end hotel/restaurant with some of my family. I think we were there because of my sister's wedding or something. But naturally, we were being loud and just in general having a good time.
and I was waiting to like ask the receptionist something and she was ignoring me for like all these other people and i was like trying to be chill about it and right when i was about to lose my chill Tom walks in. and i was just like in shock like 'thats my future husband right there oh my god.'
and the lady, who's still ignoring me even moreso now that Tom has walked up, starts checking him in or whatever and is like trying to be flirty or whatever. and he's being polite but really short with her. and is kind of like casually aware of me just deadass staring at him with the biggest heart eyes.
and then somehow he makes the connection that i was originally standing there because i was trying to get help and goes into full apology mode. and i'm just like it's cool man, i've been waiting almost an hour its whatever. and he like 'no that's not right' and like goes full Loki on this receptionist bitch like 'you're going to help her and expect that i will be in contact with your manager.ect' and
i'm just like well shit. just. fuck me up
anyway he leaves and like gives me his room number and is like 'I'd really love to see you again.' and pulls that lame ass 'i feel we have a connection' line and in the back of my head Lu is like 'boy please'
so I get whatever i need sorted out with the front desk, sorted out and my family leaves and i'm sitting there looking at my hand with Tom's room number written on it and Lu's like 'don't you fucking take this for granted, go get that british dick' and im just like oh my god okaay.
and i get all cute and shit and when i go to the elevator, they have like attendants there to push the button for what floor you want to go to and these fuckers wouldn't let me go to his floor. and i'm like 'yall some racist mofos but whatever i'm not even mad because i'm about to go get dicked down one way or another.'
so i'm like sneaking around and shit and i find the staff elevator for like room service and stuff. but of course you need a a special key code to use it. so i use my Lu powers to bypass it and I get on that elevator to go get my man.
then some crazy dream timelapse stuff happens and like i'm fighting people??
on the elevator?
like they figure out im there and come through the fucking top panel of it or some shit.
either way i've gone full Lu through a magical girl style transformation and i'm kicking ass on the elevator like Steve Rogers in Winter Soldier. and when the elevator finally gets to the right floor (and like that takes sometime because the building is fucking huge and ofc Tom is like on the top floor) and its fucking like fighting made me look even more flawless like this is some fucking movie magic like the elevator opens and my hair is blowing majestically and it was just a really great image
So i get to Tom's room and the door is cracked so i just open it like why the fuck not right? and in like the most cliche manner he's standing in front of this huge ass window and he's like in full Avengers!Loki costume and i'm just looking at the camera like 'fuck yeah it's about to be lit'
and he launches into this monologue about how we're soulmates and how he's been looking for me for forever and all that lame, sappy shit. like he wants to take me back to asgard to rule over everything with him and i'm just like 'hell yeah sign me the fuck up you don't know how long i've fucking waited for this'
and so we have our little cute romantic moment where we're holding each other and just kind of like 'fuck yeah found my soulmate' and then he's like "i want to show you something." And i'm just like 'it's your dick right? please say its your dick' and honestly i'm glad he was so amused by how fucking thirsty i was because it was fuck bad.
but he takes me up on the roof and i'm thinking 'he wants to fuck me while watching the sunset wow thats so extra but also romantic i'm down'
But nope
Fuckign mjolnir is on the god damn roof and he's essentially like "I can't make you my queen unless you can lift the hammer, sorry thems the rules' and i'm like wow fuck you. like i’ve just been fucking Loki’d
like i get mad. like real mad. Like i'm tearing into him yelling and shit like 'look man i was fucking ready to leave this lame ass life of mine how fucking dare you, you beautiful bastard you could have at least fucked me first shit.'
and this fucking weirdo is just so into it because, ofc i didn't realize, but i'm summoning a storm in my rage.
and i'm like 'you want me to lift the fucking hammer? okay bitch here we fucking go' and so i storm over to it and grab it with one hand and it shifts a bit but doesn't budge past that, so i grab it with both hands and like put my back into it and ofc, because this is my lame ass dream, I lift it up. and the sky is like fucking full of lightning and its thundering so loud and Loki is looking at me with these sparkling eyes and is like fucking trying to charm me into calming down.
and i'm like 'haha fuck you, First order of official business: I'm gonna fuck you up.' and the little smug bastard is just like 'I look forward to it' and we have a really angry kiss.
FUCKING MEANWHILE
Thor has shown up and is like 'wow what the fuck mjolnir' Like he's baffled that i've been deemed worthy when i'm allying myself with someone so notoriously villainous and i just shrug like sorry Thor i don't make the rules.
so the dream kind of ends there. We go back to asgard and I unoffically make Thor my pet. Like he's officially Like uh a knight i guess. Chosen warrior and protector of the King and Queen but when no one is around we keep him on his knees and screw around with him haha
the end
honestly i wish i were a way better artist because some of the scenes in this were just so beautiful in my head. Things to commision I guess haha.
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