FIC: Looking After You (4/?)
Title: Looking After You
Fandom: Thor/Avengers/Marvel Cinematic Universe (with slight references to Norse Mythology and Doctor Who)
Rating: Um...PG right now I think.
Characters: Loki Odinson/Laufeyson, Darcy Lewis (Loki/Darcy), Thor Odinson, Jane Foster (Thor/Jane), Frigga, Odin, Sif, Romana, The Warriors Three, various cameos of other Avengers.
Spoilers: Thor and Avengers movies. If you haven't seen Avengers, go see it, then come back and read.
Summery: After the events of the Avengers, Loki is brought back to Asgard to face his punishment. Odin decides to bind Loki's magi so he is unable to use it till he redeems himself and is worthy of the ability. However, when the binding takes place, it is found that Loki has more problems to deal with, and he will need his friends and family to help him through this.
Part IV: The Walk of Odin
Darcy had been stripped down to her underwear. The Old woman would have preferred complete nakedness on her part, but Darcy put her foot down. The “See Darcy in all her glory” club had a limited membership and she’d like to keep it that way. Not to mention she had just given birth two months ago and wasn’t ready for the post-baby body pictures quite yet.
She settled herself into the tub, surprised at how the liquid that surrounded her felt odd, but not uncomfortable. It was warm, and relaxing. She supposed that would be a good thing. Hard to go into a trance when one was uncomfortable. It had a slight thickness to it as well. She amused herself by lifting a hand full of the stuff and watch it web between her fingers before sliding down to join the rest in the tub.
Maybe she could get the recipe. She could use this after going to meetings with the Avengers.
“You need to relax your limbs,” The old woman stated, standing at the bottom of the tub. “The liquid will allow you to float. You do not need to do the work yourself.”
“Easy for you to say,” Darcy mumbled, letting her hand move away from the bottom where she had been lifting herself up from. As the woman had said, her body began to float to the top, the liquid flowing around her as if it was alive itself. It was soothing, although the thought of being in living goop was a little disconcerting to her.
“Relax,” the Old Woman repeated. “I shall lead you into the trance, just as I explained.” Darcy nodded, and closed her eyes, using the breathing exercises she learned in prenatal yoga class. The old woman (Really, Darcy thought to herself, someone should ask her what her name is. Calling her the old woman was getting, well, rather old) began to recite some words over her in a rhythmic pattern. Darcy had no clue as to what she was saying, though she suspected it was one of those cases where the words mattered little, rather the pattern mattered. For all she knew she was reciting some dirty ditty. That thought made Darcy smile.
She felt a shift in her sensorial perception as the trance began to take hold and brought her into Loki’s mind space. She opened her eyes to find herself sitting in a field, the wind blowing around her lightly. It was a peaceful and beautiful setting and not one she related to Loki. For some reason she had imagined some place involving metal, not a place so organic. The beauty she understood. Loki had a sense of beauty; he had grown up in Asgard. It was just the simplicity of the area.
She didn’t see him anywhere around her, and that concerned her. She didn’t want to wonder around his mind. She might be pissed at him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to invade his privacy. But she only had half an hour to prepare him for what he was about to go through, so she couldn’t wait for him to come to her.
She stood up from where she was sitting, and noticed her clothes had changed into a dark green top and a pair of black pants. Acceptable. Not necessarily her choice in clothes, but nothing out of the realm of possibility for her to wear. She just preferred comfy layers to dressy causal. She looked around her, spotting a lake down the hillside, with a few boats in the distance. She finally spotted him, sitting at the dock, dressed in more simple clothes then she had expected. Whenever he was Loki he had always been dressed to the nines, either in his green, black and gold uniform as a warrior or in a top of the line business suit. Here he appeared to be wearing a plain green shirt a few shades lighter than her own, and a pair of pants rolled up to his knees, with his feet in the water. He looked at peace.
~*~
Loki had felt her in his mind as soon as she arrived. The sensation was unusual, but felt slightly familiar. He didn’t move from where he was sitting, and waited for her to reach him.
“Fancy finding you here,” she stated as she reached the dock. “Nice place.” He could sense that she actually appreciated the environment he had managed to scrap together.
“It’s a lake I visited often on Asgard when I wanted to get away from the court.” There had been times in his long life where he had just wanted to be alone, without the stress of being Thor’s brother. He loved his brother, but there were times that it felt like most of his time was spent talking Thor out of really bad ideas.
“Ah,” she stated before sitting beside him. “You’ll have to show me the real place when you’re done here.”
“Somehow I doubt you’d ever come to Asgard.” She raised an eyebrow. She seemed amused by something he said.
“Dude, I’m in Asgard. How else do you think I got in here?” She smiled a bit. “Unless you think I’m some kind of hallucination, in which case I have to ask how often to I visit you when you dream?”
“More than is probably wise,” he stated honestly. He couldn’t reach the memories of her, of why she was familiar, of why she felt right or why he felt the need to reach over and take her hand. It was all so hazy.
“Well, hate to tell you but I’m not a dream this time. I’m your Marley.”
“I take that is some kind of Midgardian reference, but I really have no clue what you are on about.” His voice sounded tired, even to him. He also felt annoyance, because apparently he was incapable of lying within his own mind space. He hated not being in control, especially when it should be a place where he had all control.
“Yes. Now I know what movie to make you watch when you are done getting your head fixed. Or maybe I’ll just get you the book, unless the book lover was just part of the act of being Aaron.” Loki was more annoyed now; apparently he hadn’t liked the reminder either.
“If you are going to pester me, you might as well go.”
“Oh, I’ll pester you all right, but it’s not my turn.”
“Turn?”
“Yep, like I said. I’m your Jacob Marley, here to let you know that you’ll be having visitors and you’ll have to deal with your issues so you can realize there is more to life then doom and destruction. Rainbows and Unicorns also exist.” She paused.
“Do I have any say in this at all, or is once again my thoughts on the matter to be ignored?” Bitterness tinted that comment.
“No. Not really. You are going to do this because otherwise you are going to be trapped inside your own head to drown, which would no doubt suck for you. You are going to do this because there are people out there who care deeply for you and want to see you get better and despite everything I read they all seem like good people. You are going to do this because you should be there for your daughter. But mostly you should do this for yourself and stop being stupid.”
Loki was angry. Angry at being called stupid, at her commentary about his family (what did she know) and that she presumed to order him around. However, before he could get out a biting remark, one particular bit of information filtered in.
“Daughter?” A faded image seemed to appear before him but it disappeared before he had a chance to comprehend what was in front of him.
“I believe that is what I said.” There was part of her taking delight in playing with him right now. It wouldn’t hurt him any. “I would go into that more, except like I said it’s not my turn. Actually my time is up. Now it’s time for you and Odin to discuss things.” Loki tried to grab her as she faded away, but wasn’t able to and he was left alone on the dock contemplating Darcy’s words.
And dreading the arrival of his father.
~*~
Darcy opened her eyes. The transition went smoother then she had anticipated. Standing above her was the old woman with a neutral expression. When Darcy didn’t immediately leave the tub, she raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, Fine, I’m out.” She raised an arm and the old woman grabbed her arm and lifted her to a standing position. Darcy stepped out and onto a mat and watched as the mind-glop (as she had decided to call it) disappeared off her body with a wave of the old woman’s hands. She handed Darcy a robe. She held back a chuckle at the sudden idea that popped into her head of feeling like she was at a spa. Welcome to Asgard Resort. Where you can indulge in mind-glop baths, get decadent robes, and finally figure out what the hell is wrong with your boyfriend.
“That went better than expected,” the Old Woman stated as she led Darcy to a small area where she could change her clothes. “I must look into that.” She wondered back into the room, leaving Darcy alone wondering what she meant by that.
~*~
When Odin finally arrived the peaceful lake setting had changed into the throne room. Loki stood leaning against the wall, in full armor. Odin wondered if it was wise to have him go first. Perhaps someone a little less at odds with his son would have been a better option, Thor or his mother for example. It was clear from Loki’s need to put them in this place that he was uncomfortable with the situation.
And clearly furious. However, Odin had expected this. His son held him responsible for many things, and it would take a while for the two sort through their issues. A few hours were not nearly enough. Part of him thought of taking on the armored look as well, but Sif’s comment from earlier with her tone, oddly tinted with warning, during breakfast came into remembrance.
Forgive me, All-Father, but perhaps being his father first, and not the All-Father would be the best course of action.
“Well, Father,” Loki greeted, and Odin grimaced slightly at the acid dripping in the title. It broke his heart to hear his son say it like that. “What is that you have to say to me? Apparently I have a long list of visitors today.”
“Only me today. The Old woman will not permit more.”
“Why do you all refer to her as the old woman? She is old and a woman yes, but I believe after so many years one could call her by a name.”
“She has never told us her name.”
“She told me,” Loki stated with a smile. He always enjoyed when he got to show that he knew more than those around him. Odin had never figured out if it was in desire to prove his worth since he was not the physical warrior as his brother or simply a desire to prove he was better. It hadn’t mattered to Odin that his youngest son used tricks and sly moves to fight his battles.
Loki thought before he acted, and therefore his actions, for the most part, were thought out and not knee-jerk reactions as Thor tended to do. While he could come up with plans at a moment’s notice, he preferred to have well thought out plans. It was why Odin’s youngest son rarely lost the battles he choose to have. It was the ones forced on him that caused him to act erratically.
“She taught you much. I can only assume that the mentor-protégée relationship granted you more privilege to call her by her given name.”
“Romana. That is her name. Or it was when she was once called something other than the Old Woman.” Loki stood and walked towards where his father stood. He stood and took in his father’s appearance. Unlike Darcy, his father had a little power over how he appeared. Loki kept his surprise tightly wound, knowing that if he didn’t, Odin would be able to pick up on it.
“Did you know she comes from a planet that destroyed itself in order to save itself?” Odin stated, remembering the story she had told him as a youth. “A paradox I would think. She was one of the last of her people. She claimed they had gotten too proud, felt themselves too above it all that they hadn’t seen the danger till it proved too late.” A lesson Odin wondered if he was to learn himself.
Odin put his hands behind his back, clasping his hands together and walked the short distance to his chair and sat down. He closed his eyes and when he opened them the landscape had changed into the room the family had frequented when his children were small. It was a warm room, with comfortable furniture, worn with use.
Frigga’s weaving and sewing equipment to one side opposite a large wooden desk with detailed carvings relating to the history of Asgard. Odin would take his work there while he watched his children play, either on the floor between his wife and his work areas, or through the windows into the private lawn and garden.
Loki looked displeased. Odin had lived long enough to know a few tricks of his own. He had chosen this because he was here as a father. Not as the King. Sif’s advice was sound, even if he hadn’t wanted to hear it. They were here because he took his role as All-father as a higher priority than that of Loki’s Father.
“Sit down, son. Even though we are not using our physical bodies, standing will be tiring.” Loki ignored the request, choosing instead to explore the environment that his father had created.
“So it is true then. Romana has sent you here along with Darcy to fix me like I’m some broken toy.”
“To help you, not fix you. I see Lady Darcy did not truly explain the situation. Your interaction with the Tesseract has left damage. Romana has sensed that it used our…unsolved family issues against you and unless we deal with them, you will continue to be slowly trapped within your own mind.”
“How thoughtful of her. Get along with your so-called relatives or possibly spend eternity in a make-believe world. Had she not considered that perhaps that latter is a more attractive option.”
“If you truly believed that, you would not be here. You are powerful enough still, my son.”
“I desire answers. That is all.” Odin nodded in response.
“And I shall try to answer them. But first you must ask. We never did finish our conversation.”
“And what conversation would that be? The one where you told me I’m actually a monster or the one where you decided I wasn’t worth trying for?”
“The first, though that was not what I was telling you in either case. Yes, you are a Frost Giant biologically, and they have often been enemies of those in Asgard, but never have I thought them or you, especially you, a monster. I am sorry that you were ever taught to think that way.”
“How else was I supposed to think?” Loki yelled turning to face his father. His face clearly showed his anger, and sense of betrayal over the issue, but Odin hardly needed to see it. Romana’s warning that the experience would be as draining for him as it was for his son because there was no way to hide emotions in this space was certainly proven true. He could feel Loki’s emotions around him, crashing into the walls and reflecting back.
“You would tell Thor and I great stories about your battles with them, how they were going to destroy Midgard with another ice age. Told us how right you were to overtake them in battle, how righteous the fight was. How was that not depicting them as the villain of the story? “
As his son went silent, more of Sif’s words from earlier in the day about how if his plan was to make Loki return to Jotunhiem as their king, to rule over it in peace, shouldn’t he have allowed Loki to learn what it was to be a frost Giant.
Instead he had taught his son how to be an Asgardian. And his son had thrived, but also had struggled within the confines of what people expected of him.
“Clearly I failed to get across the message. The message was not about who was the hero, who was the villain. The message was that as King, we are obligated to protect those under our rule, or those who we have pledged protection. We don’t seek out war, but must defend ourselves.”
“You just made that up. You are a terrible liar, Father.”
“Yet you don’t believe I see you as my son. That would state that I managed to lie for thousands of years about my affection for you. Why is it you doubt my love, but not your mother’s?” That had bothered Odin. That Loki could easily believe that Odin had not loved him, yet never had a doubt about Frigga. How could his son not see the affection both his parents held for him?
“Why do I not doubt Mother’s love? Simple. She never made me feel like I was the lesser son. In her eyes I’ve always been equal to Thor. I stand beside him not behind him.”
“So this is about the rivalry with your brother.”
“No.” Loki’s frustration was clear to Odin and vice versa. It seemed neither one felt they could state what the issue between them was.
“Perhaps,” Odin said after a few moments of silence, “You will understand better after a few years of fatherhood yourself.”
“That is the second time someone has mentioned a child. As far as I am aware I have none, unless you include Sleipnir, but he is not a child of mine, merely a creature I helped create. And Darcy said it was a daughter.”
“Yes, a daughter it is. She looks remarkably like you did when you were young.” Odin focused and brought forth an image of Ariana. He could not bring her physically into the mind space, but he could give his son a look at his child.
He also made sure the memory he drew from included the moment that Ariana turned blue while giggling. Perhaps, Odin mused, if his son could learn to love his daughter’s Jotun form, he could learn to love himself as well. Odin wasn’t completely blind and realized that some of Loki’s issues were in the fact that he saw the Giants as monsters, ergo he was one.
The Tesseract had amplified that. He doubted anything he could say could really dispel the thought.
“Hey Gramps, bath time’s up,” The two men looked over to see Darcy smiling at them from her position on the desk. Unlike the last time, she wore an outfit more befitting a Princess of Asgard. Odin frowned. He knew that Darcy required the bath same as him. Had they immersed both of them in the same bath? There hadn’t been any room for more than one person at a time.
“Bath time?” Loki asked. What exactly was she up to.
“In order to facilitate the telepathic connection, Romana has us floating in a special solution meant to both strengthen the connection as well as protect any of those involved from psionic backlash,” Odin answered.
“So am I to assume that I am also in a bath?”
“Yep,” Darcy answered with a smile, “but don’t worry - Romana and your mom got you ready. And you are totally immersed with this funky air mask. Kinda cool looking. But she sent me in to let you know that the bath is becoming exhausted, if a liquid could become exhausted, and that it was time to leave. On the bright side, this stuff really makes your skin feel soft. I bet she could market this on earth and make a fortune. Hell, my mother might buy half the stock.”
“How are you connected?” Odin stated, and Loki seemed to catch the reason behind that remark because his eyes narrowed. Darcy’s happy demeanor also changed, and she sent a glare towards his son.
“Apparently, Loki-Aaron here bonded us and we can communicate like this as long as we have some kind of physical connection, so the bath is only necessary for long term communication. I’m holding his hand right now. This is another thing that’s going on my list of things we are going to discuss when it’s my hour to do so.”
“Are you sure an hour is going to be enough,” Loki responded. “You seem to be coming up with quite a list.”
“Oh. Of course not.” Her tone matched his own and Odin had to keep from sharing his amusement. These two would be interesting to watch. “But I don’t want to over tire you quite yet.”
“So you think that having a conversation with you will tire me.”
“Who said anything about a conversation? “ She paused in her statement, looking like she was clearly paying attention to something they could not sense. “Ok, apparently we are pushing it, so time to wake up Odin. See ya later, Loki love.” And with that she disappeared followed shortly by Odin.
Loki sighed in frustration. He wasn’t sure what exactly Romana was up to. He had been taught about mind space connections, but in none of those lessons had there been any mention of a bath being involved. And he certainly never bonded with anything. He knew that it was common enough amongst the Asgard to create mental bonds after decades of being together, but he had never found the need or want to create such a bond himself.
He briefly recalled the image Odin had presented him. His mother holding a beautiful little girl as she joyfully turned blue and then back to peach again. A mix of emotions surged in him. Disbelief, sadness, happiness, distrust.
He closed his eyes and brought his emotions to an even keel. If he understood correctly, he would be seeing Darcy and another visitor in a few hours. He planned to be the one in control when he was visited again.
So involved was his planning that he almost missed the fact that he hadn’t sunk back into the blackness, but instead was in a new place, a rooftop with a set of lawn furniture.
Master List | Chapter Three | Chapter Five
Fandom: Thor/Avengers/Marvel Cinematic Universe (with slight references to Norse Mythology and Doctor Who)
Rating: Um...PG right now I think.
Characters: Loki Odinson/Laufeyson, Darcy Lewis (Loki/Darcy), Thor Odinson, Jane Foster (Thor/Jane), Frigga, Odin, Sif, Romana, The Warriors Three, various cameos of other Avengers.
Spoilers: Thor and Avengers movies. If you haven't seen Avengers, go see it, then come back and read.
Summery: After the events of the Avengers, Loki is brought back to Asgard to face his punishment. Odin decides to bind Loki's magi so he is unable to use it till he redeems himself and is worthy of the ability. However, when the binding takes place, it is found that Loki has more problems to deal with, and he will need his friends and family to help him through this.
Part IV: The Walk of Odin
Darcy had been stripped down to her underwear. The Old woman would have preferred complete nakedness on her part, but Darcy put her foot down. The “See Darcy in all her glory” club had a limited membership and she’d like to keep it that way. Not to mention she had just given birth two months ago and wasn’t ready for the post-baby body pictures quite yet.
She settled herself into the tub, surprised at how the liquid that surrounded her felt odd, but not uncomfortable. It was warm, and relaxing. She supposed that would be a good thing. Hard to go into a trance when one was uncomfortable. It had a slight thickness to it as well. She amused herself by lifting a hand full of the stuff and watch it web between her fingers before sliding down to join the rest in the tub.
Maybe she could get the recipe. She could use this after going to meetings with the Avengers.
“You need to relax your limbs,” The old woman stated, standing at the bottom of the tub. “The liquid will allow you to float. You do not need to do the work yourself.”
“Easy for you to say,” Darcy mumbled, letting her hand move away from the bottom where she had been lifting herself up from. As the woman had said, her body began to float to the top, the liquid flowing around her as if it was alive itself. It was soothing, although the thought of being in living goop was a little disconcerting to her.
“Relax,” the Old Woman repeated. “I shall lead you into the trance, just as I explained.” Darcy nodded, and closed her eyes, using the breathing exercises she learned in prenatal yoga class. The old woman (Really, Darcy thought to herself, someone should ask her what her name is. Calling her the old woman was getting, well, rather old) began to recite some words over her in a rhythmic pattern. Darcy had no clue as to what she was saying, though she suspected it was one of those cases where the words mattered little, rather the pattern mattered. For all she knew she was reciting some dirty ditty. That thought made Darcy smile.
She felt a shift in her sensorial perception as the trance began to take hold and brought her into Loki’s mind space. She opened her eyes to find herself sitting in a field, the wind blowing around her lightly. It was a peaceful and beautiful setting and not one she related to Loki. For some reason she had imagined some place involving metal, not a place so organic. The beauty she understood. Loki had a sense of beauty; he had grown up in Asgard. It was just the simplicity of the area.
She didn’t see him anywhere around her, and that concerned her. She didn’t want to wonder around his mind. She might be pissed at him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to invade his privacy. But she only had half an hour to prepare him for what he was about to go through, so she couldn’t wait for him to come to her.
She stood up from where she was sitting, and noticed her clothes had changed into a dark green top and a pair of black pants. Acceptable. Not necessarily her choice in clothes, but nothing out of the realm of possibility for her to wear. She just preferred comfy layers to dressy causal. She looked around her, spotting a lake down the hillside, with a few boats in the distance. She finally spotted him, sitting at the dock, dressed in more simple clothes then she had expected. Whenever he was Loki he had always been dressed to the nines, either in his green, black and gold uniform as a warrior or in a top of the line business suit. Here he appeared to be wearing a plain green shirt a few shades lighter than her own, and a pair of pants rolled up to his knees, with his feet in the water. He looked at peace.
~*~
Loki had felt her in his mind as soon as she arrived. The sensation was unusual, but felt slightly familiar. He didn’t move from where he was sitting, and waited for her to reach him.
“Fancy finding you here,” she stated as she reached the dock. “Nice place.” He could sense that she actually appreciated the environment he had managed to scrap together.
“It’s a lake I visited often on Asgard when I wanted to get away from the court.” There had been times in his long life where he had just wanted to be alone, without the stress of being Thor’s brother. He loved his brother, but there were times that it felt like most of his time was spent talking Thor out of really bad ideas.
“Ah,” she stated before sitting beside him. “You’ll have to show me the real place when you’re done here.”
“Somehow I doubt you’d ever come to Asgard.” She raised an eyebrow. She seemed amused by something he said.
“Dude, I’m in Asgard. How else do you think I got in here?” She smiled a bit. “Unless you think I’m some kind of hallucination, in which case I have to ask how often to I visit you when you dream?”
“More than is probably wise,” he stated honestly. He couldn’t reach the memories of her, of why she was familiar, of why she felt right or why he felt the need to reach over and take her hand. It was all so hazy.
“Well, hate to tell you but I’m not a dream this time. I’m your Marley.”
“I take that is some kind of Midgardian reference, but I really have no clue what you are on about.” His voice sounded tired, even to him. He also felt annoyance, because apparently he was incapable of lying within his own mind space. He hated not being in control, especially when it should be a place where he had all control.
“Yes. Now I know what movie to make you watch when you are done getting your head fixed. Or maybe I’ll just get you the book, unless the book lover was just part of the act of being Aaron.” Loki was more annoyed now; apparently he hadn’t liked the reminder either.
“If you are going to pester me, you might as well go.”
“Oh, I’ll pester you all right, but it’s not my turn.”
“Turn?”
“Yep, like I said. I’m your Jacob Marley, here to let you know that you’ll be having visitors and you’ll have to deal with your issues so you can realize there is more to life then doom and destruction. Rainbows and Unicorns also exist.” She paused.
“Do I have any say in this at all, or is once again my thoughts on the matter to be ignored?” Bitterness tinted that comment.
“No. Not really. You are going to do this because otherwise you are going to be trapped inside your own head to drown, which would no doubt suck for you. You are going to do this because there are people out there who care deeply for you and want to see you get better and despite everything I read they all seem like good people. You are going to do this because you should be there for your daughter. But mostly you should do this for yourself and stop being stupid.”
Loki was angry. Angry at being called stupid, at her commentary about his family (what did she know) and that she presumed to order him around. However, before he could get out a biting remark, one particular bit of information filtered in.
“Daughter?” A faded image seemed to appear before him but it disappeared before he had a chance to comprehend what was in front of him.
“I believe that is what I said.” There was part of her taking delight in playing with him right now. It wouldn’t hurt him any. “I would go into that more, except like I said it’s not my turn. Actually my time is up. Now it’s time for you and Odin to discuss things.” Loki tried to grab her as she faded away, but wasn’t able to and he was left alone on the dock contemplating Darcy’s words.
And dreading the arrival of his father.
~*~
Darcy opened her eyes. The transition went smoother then she had anticipated. Standing above her was the old woman with a neutral expression. When Darcy didn’t immediately leave the tub, she raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, Fine, I’m out.” She raised an arm and the old woman grabbed her arm and lifted her to a standing position. Darcy stepped out and onto a mat and watched as the mind-glop (as she had decided to call it) disappeared off her body with a wave of the old woman’s hands. She handed Darcy a robe. She held back a chuckle at the sudden idea that popped into her head of feeling like she was at a spa. Welcome to Asgard Resort. Where you can indulge in mind-glop baths, get decadent robes, and finally figure out what the hell is wrong with your boyfriend.
“That went better than expected,” the Old Woman stated as she led Darcy to a small area where she could change her clothes. “I must look into that.” She wondered back into the room, leaving Darcy alone wondering what she meant by that.
~*~
When Odin finally arrived the peaceful lake setting had changed into the throne room. Loki stood leaning against the wall, in full armor. Odin wondered if it was wise to have him go first. Perhaps someone a little less at odds with his son would have been a better option, Thor or his mother for example. It was clear from Loki’s need to put them in this place that he was uncomfortable with the situation.
And clearly furious. However, Odin had expected this. His son held him responsible for many things, and it would take a while for the two sort through their issues. A few hours were not nearly enough. Part of him thought of taking on the armored look as well, but Sif’s comment from earlier with her tone, oddly tinted with warning, during breakfast came into remembrance.
Forgive me, All-Father, but perhaps being his father first, and not the All-Father would be the best course of action.
“Well, Father,” Loki greeted, and Odin grimaced slightly at the acid dripping in the title. It broke his heart to hear his son say it like that. “What is that you have to say to me? Apparently I have a long list of visitors today.”
“Only me today. The Old woman will not permit more.”
“Why do you all refer to her as the old woman? She is old and a woman yes, but I believe after so many years one could call her by a name.”
“She has never told us her name.”
“She told me,” Loki stated with a smile. He always enjoyed when he got to show that he knew more than those around him. Odin had never figured out if it was in desire to prove his worth since he was not the physical warrior as his brother or simply a desire to prove he was better. It hadn’t mattered to Odin that his youngest son used tricks and sly moves to fight his battles.
Loki thought before he acted, and therefore his actions, for the most part, were thought out and not knee-jerk reactions as Thor tended to do. While he could come up with plans at a moment’s notice, he preferred to have well thought out plans. It was why Odin’s youngest son rarely lost the battles he choose to have. It was the ones forced on him that caused him to act erratically.
“She taught you much. I can only assume that the mentor-protégée relationship granted you more privilege to call her by her given name.”
“Romana. That is her name. Or it was when she was once called something other than the Old Woman.” Loki stood and walked towards where his father stood. He stood and took in his father’s appearance. Unlike Darcy, his father had a little power over how he appeared. Loki kept his surprise tightly wound, knowing that if he didn’t, Odin would be able to pick up on it.
“Did you know she comes from a planet that destroyed itself in order to save itself?” Odin stated, remembering the story she had told him as a youth. “A paradox I would think. She was one of the last of her people. She claimed they had gotten too proud, felt themselves too above it all that they hadn’t seen the danger till it proved too late.” A lesson Odin wondered if he was to learn himself.
Odin put his hands behind his back, clasping his hands together and walked the short distance to his chair and sat down. He closed his eyes and when he opened them the landscape had changed into the room the family had frequented when his children were small. It was a warm room, with comfortable furniture, worn with use.
Frigga’s weaving and sewing equipment to one side opposite a large wooden desk with detailed carvings relating to the history of Asgard. Odin would take his work there while he watched his children play, either on the floor between his wife and his work areas, or through the windows into the private lawn and garden.
Loki looked displeased. Odin had lived long enough to know a few tricks of his own. He had chosen this because he was here as a father. Not as the King. Sif’s advice was sound, even if he hadn’t wanted to hear it. They were here because he took his role as All-father as a higher priority than that of Loki’s Father.
“Sit down, son. Even though we are not using our physical bodies, standing will be tiring.” Loki ignored the request, choosing instead to explore the environment that his father had created.
“So it is true then. Romana has sent you here along with Darcy to fix me like I’m some broken toy.”
“To help you, not fix you. I see Lady Darcy did not truly explain the situation. Your interaction with the Tesseract has left damage. Romana has sensed that it used our…unsolved family issues against you and unless we deal with them, you will continue to be slowly trapped within your own mind.”
“How thoughtful of her. Get along with your so-called relatives or possibly spend eternity in a make-believe world. Had she not considered that perhaps that latter is a more attractive option.”
“If you truly believed that, you would not be here. You are powerful enough still, my son.”
“I desire answers. That is all.” Odin nodded in response.
“And I shall try to answer them. But first you must ask. We never did finish our conversation.”
“And what conversation would that be? The one where you told me I’m actually a monster or the one where you decided I wasn’t worth trying for?”
“The first, though that was not what I was telling you in either case. Yes, you are a Frost Giant biologically, and they have often been enemies of those in Asgard, but never have I thought them or you, especially you, a monster. I am sorry that you were ever taught to think that way.”
“How else was I supposed to think?” Loki yelled turning to face his father. His face clearly showed his anger, and sense of betrayal over the issue, but Odin hardly needed to see it. Romana’s warning that the experience would be as draining for him as it was for his son because there was no way to hide emotions in this space was certainly proven true. He could feel Loki’s emotions around him, crashing into the walls and reflecting back.
“You would tell Thor and I great stories about your battles with them, how they were going to destroy Midgard with another ice age. Told us how right you were to overtake them in battle, how righteous the fight was. How was that not depicting them as the villain of the story? “
As his son went silent, more of Sif’s words from earlier in the day about how if his plan was to make Loki return to Jotunhiem as their king, to rule over it in peace, shouldn’t he have allowed Loki to learn what it was to be a frost Giant.
Instead he had taught his son how to be an Asgardian. And his son had thrived, but also had struggled within the confines of what people expected of him.
“Clearly I failed to get across the message. The message was not about who was the hero, who was the villain. The message was that as King, we are obligated to protect those under our rule, or those who we have pledged protection. We don’t seek out war, but must defend ourselves.”
“You just made that up. You are a terrible liar, Father.”
“Yet you don’t believe I see you as my son. That would state that I managed to lie for thousands of years about my affection for you. Why is it you doubt my love, but not your mother’s?” That had bothered Odin. That Loki could easily believe that Odin had not loved him, yet never had a doubt about Frigga. How could his son not see the affection both his parents held for him?
“Why do I not doubt Mother’s love? Simple. She never made me feel like I was the lesser son. In her eyes I’ve always been equal to Thor. I stand beside him not behind him.”
“So this is about the rivalry with your brother.”
“No.” Loki’s frustration was clear to Odin and vice versa. It seemed neither one felt they could state what the issue between them was.
“Perhaps,” Odin said after a few moments of silence, “You will understand better after a few years of fatherhood yourself.”
“That is the second time someone has mentioned a child. As far as I am aware I have none, unless you include Sleipnir, but he is not a child of mine, merely a creature I helped create. And Darcy said it was a daughter.”
“Yes, a daughter it is. She looks remarkably like you did when you were young.” Odin focused and brought forth an image of Ariana. He could not bring her physically into the mind space, but he could give his son a look at his child.
He also made sure the memory he drew from included the moment that Ariana turned blue while giggling. Perhaps, Odin mused, if his son could learn to love his daughter’s Jotun form, he could learn to love himself as well. Odin wasn’t completely blind and realized that some of Loki’s issues were in the fact that he saw the Giants as monsters, ergo he was one.
The Tesseract had amplified that. He doubted anything he could say could really dispel the thought.
“Hey Gramps, bath time’s up,” The two men looked over to see Darcy smiling at them from her position on the desk. Unlike the last time, she wore an outfit more befitting a Princess of Asgard. Odin frowned. He knew that Darcy required the bath same as him. Had they immersed both of them in the same bath? There hadn’t been any room for more than one person at a time.
“Bath time?” Loki asked. What exactly was she up to.
“In order to facilitate the telepathic connection, Romana has us floating in a special solution meant to both strengthen the connection as well as protect any of those involved from psionic backlash,” Odin answered.
“So am I to assume that I am also in a bath?”
“Yep,” Darcy answered with a smile, “but don’t worry - Romana and your mom got you ready. And you are totally immersed with this funky air mask. Kinda cool looking. But she sent me in to let you know that the bath is becoming exhausted, if a liquid could become exhausted, and that it was time to leave. On the bright side, this stuff really makes your skin feel soft. I bet she could market this on earth and make a fortune. Hell, my mother might buy half the stock.”
“How are you connected?” Odin stated, and Loki seemed to catch the reason behind that remark because his eyes narrowed. Darcy’s happy demeanor also changed, and she sent a glare towards his son.
“Apparently, Loki-Aaron here bonded us and we can communicate like this as long as we have some kind of physical connection, so the bath is only necessary for long term communication. I’m holding his hand right now. This is another thing that’s going on my list of things we are going to discuss when it’s my hour to do so.”
“Are you sure an hour is going to be enough,” Loki responded. “You seem to be coming up with quite a list.”
“Oh. Of course not.” Her tone matched his own and Odin had to keep from sharing his amusement. These two would be interesting to watch. “But I don’t want to over tire you quite yet.”
“So you think that having a conversation with you will tire me.”
“Who said anything about a conversation? “ She paused in her statement, looking like she was clearly paying attention to something they could not sense. “Ok, apparently we are pushing it, so time to wake up Odin. See ya later, Loki love.” And with that she disappeared followed shortly by Odin.
Loki sighed in frustration. He wasn’t sure what exactly Romana was up to. He had been taught about mind space connections, but in none of those lessons had there been any mention of a bath being involved. And he certainly never bonded with anything. He knew that it was common enough amongst the Asgard to create mental bonds after decades of being together, but he had never found the need or want to create such a bond himself.
He briefly recalled the image Odin had presented him. His mother holding a beautiful little girl as she joyfully turned blue and then back to peach again. A mix of emotions surged in him. Disbelief, sadness, happiness, distrust.
He closed his eyes and brought his emotions to an even keel. If he understood correctly, he would be seeing Darcy and another visitor in a few hours. He planned to be the one in control when he was visited again.
So involved was his planning that he almost missed the fact that he hadn’t sunk back into the blackness, but instead was in a new place, a rooftop with a set of lawn furniture.
Master List | Chapter Three | Chapter Five