Fic Rec: The Nam-Shub of Loki by cerebel (Clint/Loki)
cerebel's latest Clint/Loki fic The Nam Shub Of Loki has everything my fannish heart desires.
Summary:
There's a cult catching on like wildfire and a virus breaking down the human mind, person by person. Loki has a plan to fight it, but his reasons, and his interests, remain his own.
A retelling of Sumerian mythology, with Loki playing the role of Enki in the re-splintering of human culture. Contains pseudo-mpreg, and intersexed Loki.
Like ... EVERYTHING.
01. Human!Loki.
Told from Loki's point of view, we can see how he can be clever, manipulative and when he simply bluffs. Newly human, he is vulnerable, but learns quickly to use his weaknesses to his advantage as well.
Oh, and Intersex!Loki, my favourite flavour of Loki ;)
02. Smart!Clint
Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton does tempt one to underestimate him because he's often a bit typecast as underdog and working class man.
I don't know many who write him so perfectly. He is one of the most nuanced Clint Bartons I have read so far: His past with Loki is undeniably a part of him, but it's not what defines him. He is fractured by Loki, but he isn't broken-Clint possesses an inner strength that many, even Loki fail to recognise at first. He is definitely not a wordsmith, but he is smart in his own ways, which I find pretty much IC, especially when one looks at Clint's childhood and early life.
03. MPREG.
This may sound cliche, but it's "non-squicky" Mpreg. No one is knitting baby blankets, Clint isn't buying chocolate ice cream with marshmellows at 3am, because Loki has cravings and there are no detailed descriptions of pregnancy or labour or babies.
Also, it's pseudo-mpreg, because mpreg would be only correct if Loki were a male, which in this fic he technically isn't. It's intersex-preg :D
Fury comes to see him on what Loki reckons is somewhere close to the boundary between the second and third day. He has not utilized the shower yet; he has been unwilling to bare his skin to these strangers, not without hope of a reward in the future. Loki needs a reason.
Fury steps in with what Loki assumes is his usual swagger. Loki looks up, moves gracefully to his feet, and steps closer to the glass.
It’s a concession of power. Immediately. According to common tactics, Loki should have kept his body language pointing away from Fury. Should have affected a regal air that Fury had come to see him, not the other way around. Instead, Loki is quiet and he is demure. He paints the picture of the genuine, humbled leader, the highest brought low. Fury will not believe it, not immediately, but Loki can bide his time.
“Loki,” begins Fury, but Loki interrupts.
“Save your words,” he says. “Yes, I will do what you ask. I will answer your questions, though I cannot divulge secrets of magic or of Asgard, as I no longer know them.” Not entirely true, but good enough. He doesn’t want to make the All-Father any more of an enemy than he has -- at least, not until he’s good and ready.
“Yes, I will consent to being in this cage. And I assume you are prepared to bargain for amenities.”
A little smile crosses Fury’s face. Loki goes nervous, then. Fury shouldn’t be smiling.
“Actually, I just came here to talk about a little anomaly in your test results,” he says. Loki’s fingers drift to his arm, where he was punctured, where blood was taken.
“An anomaly?”