Chapter 12
-
“I have three surprises for you today,” Loki said with a soft, playful smile as he slipped the green silk robe from his shoulders and stepped into the warm, perfumed water of the therapeutic pool.
His pale skin seemed to glow, illuminated by the flickering golden light from the 81 candles burning in the room.
Each of Brunnhilde’s soldiers - the entirety of the small army of New Asgard - had lit a candle for them, symbolising their fidelity and vows to protect the king and queen of New Asgard.
Thor hadn’t known Brunnhilde would do that, hadn’t expected it, and the gesture filled him with delight.
He knew they were loyal to him, but it was the demonstration of their acceptance of Loki that really touched him deeply. The demonstration that their vows of loyalty to Thor extended to the man who would today become his queen.
The first part of the ceremony was this. Bathing in one of the therapeutic hot pools in the barracks. That was the only place in New Asgard with hot pools, and a cleansing ritual to begin the wedding was something they chose to keep from Old Asgardian tradition.
After this, they would get ready separately, Brunnhilde helping Thor and Bruce helping Loki.
Thor knew that outside, while they did this, many of their people and friends were working to prepare for the wedding.
Tony would be setting up the projectors and speakers so that the ceremony could be broadcast for all to see, some of Brunnhilde’s soldiers would be arranging the crowds and working on establishing security.
Not that security was really required. Heimdall would see any threats immediately, and both Thor and Loki were more than capable of defending themselves. Loki was still comparatively weak, but he was strong enough to fight off most likely threats, and Thor was definitely capable of doing so.
They were gods, after all.
And then there was the fact that the rest of the Avengers were present, along with Heimdall and Brunnhilde. Was any threat to attempt to disrupt this wedding or attack New Asgard right now, they would be faced with the assembled most powerful beings on Earth.
But it was appropriate to have visible security and order maintained by the kingdom’s army.
Some of their people would be doing the initial preparations of the food and filling decanters with alcohol that would be distributed at the feast, no doubt the musicians were preparing their instruments and many were still getting dressed in their own finery, so they were ready when the king and soon-to-be queen met each other outside the barracks.
From there, they’d walk through an aisle formed by their people to reach the place where Odin had passed on, where Heimdall would oversee their marriage ceremony. Where they would become united in marriage. Where Loki would become queen.
A feast with copious drink and music and dancing would naturally follow, celebrating the marriage and the royal couple, the future of Asgard. And, eventually, Thor and Loki would retire for the night and consummate the marriage.
Not that it wasn’t already consummated several times over.
And, at some point in this whole series of events, Loki apparently had three surprises for Thor.
Thor would have smirked as Loki told him that, but the sight of him removing his robe and smoothly entering the water was too captivating for him to react until he, too, had entered the bath.
A mere year ago this day, the only time Thor ever saw anything of Loki it was an illusion that either comforted or tormented him, but was never real.
A lie he could never touch.
The Loki before him now was so definitely real and alive, sighing contentedly as he leaned his head back into the water, his hair floating weightless around him.
“What are these surprises?” Thor asked, leaning up on the side of the pool to pour out two cups of mead, moving smoothly over to hand one to Loki.
“They’d not be surprises were I to tell you,” Loki took a slow drink, running his tongue over his lower lip enticingly as he lowered the cup.
“Can I guess?”
“Thor, you can do as you please,” Loki grinned and leaned over to kiss his jaw, “But I’d not tell you even if you got it right.”
Thor laughed, “Will I know them when I see them?”
“I should hope so, but I shall offer a small clue,” he set the mead down on the side and swam out across the pool, no doubt delighting even now in having enough strength to do such things, “One will bring tears to your eyes, another will make you laugh, and the last will render you deeply, deeply...” he swam slowly closer to Thor, stopping just before him, his hands on Thor’s thighs, “...aroused.”
He darted back in the water before Thor could touch him, grinning playfully.
Thor laughed and downed the contents of his cup, placing it down before swimming after Loki.
The pool was deep, with a ledge for people to sit on around the edge, but not very deep.
Leaving that seat, Thor found himself just about able to stand upright in the water as he tackled Loki.
They had wrestled a few times for fun since Loki’s return, Thor always being careful not to use too much strength, matching Loki’s power and pace. Wrestling in water was something they’d done plenty in the lakes of Asgard and Vanaheim before, but not recently. Not in the last decade.
Still, as they fought it felt completely natural as though they’d fought in this way mere days before, duelling for dominance, splashing each other, holding each other in place to tickle the other playfully.
It was Thor who won in the end, one arm around Loki’s waist and the other hand finding exactly the right spot on his lower abdomen where he was the most ticklish.
“I yield!” Loki laughed breathlessly, wrapping his arms around Thor’s shoulders, his wet hair sticking to his back in flattened curls.
Thor laughed, capturing Loki’s lips in a deep kiss and moving them back to the ledge around the pool.
“What do I get for winning?” Thor asked, smoothing some soaked black hair from Loki’s eyes as they settled down, Loki kneeling over Thor’s lap.
Loki leaned down to kiss him softly, “One question that I vow to answer truthfully, unless it is about your surprises.”
“The clothes you shall be wearing today,” Thor began, “Are they real or will they be an illusion?”
Loki’s smile grew, “With one exception, they are real.”
“What’s the exception?” Thor stroked his hands up and down Loki’s back, still always delighted that he felt muscle there now instead of the skin and bones emaciation from when he first returned.
“You’ve exhausted your question already.”
He reached beyond Thor to take up his cup of mead and indulge in a long, slow sip, intentionally alluring. Intentionally arousing.
“Stop teasing,” Thor grinned taking the cup and kissing him, tasting the honey on his lips, “We are not to have sex today until after the sun has set.”
“I was drinking, Thor, not proposing sex.”
“You know exactly what you were doing.”
Loki grinned, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Thor rolled his eyes and lifted Loki, reversing their positions so now he knelt over Loki, kissing him in a way that found the balance between demanding and gentle - teasing but not pushing too far. Not even close to the roughness between them when their amorous encounters were mere lust, and still careful of Loki’s incompletely recovered state.
He kept kissing Loki, letting his hands find the perfect places to touch against his skin, just the right way to hold him to bring him to a state of half arousal, before pulling back, swimming to the other side of the pool.
“You’re awful,” Loki laughed breathlessly, dropping his head back against the side.
“You started it.”
“And I may have to finish it,” Brunnhilde said, smirking as she walked in, “Your Majesty, Your Highness, it’s time to get ready. Unless you wanna be late for your own wedding.”
“Tempting,” Loki smirked.
“But we are resisting temptation for now,” Thor smiled back at him, returning to that side to offer a final, lingering and tender kiss before he pulled himself out of the pool, aware of Loki’s eyes following him, and perfectly happy to make a show of his movements for Loki’s benefit.
He didn’t bother pulling his red silk robe on as he picked it back up from the floor, whereas Loki used his magic to dry himself off before slipping his own robe on. He smiled back over his shoulder at Thor before leaving through a separate door. The one that would take him to Bruce and his room to get dressed.
Thor let himself watch the entire time, fondly observing Loki for every moment that he was still in the room, before turning to follow Brunnhilde out.
“Nervous, Your Majesty?” she asked as he dried himself off in silence, watching as she laid out his clothes for the wedding.
He smirked weakly, because now Loki was out of sight, Thor was nervous.
A part of him still feared this wasn’t real, and another part echoed Loki’s fear that Thanos would descend upon them and lay waste to their people, take him again, on this day that was supposed to be filled with joy.
“Of course not,” Thor shook his head, “I am merely happy. And I do not entirely know that can believe my good fortune. A mere year ago, I was lost in grief, certain Loki was dead. Broken because of it.”
He reached for his armour and began to get dressed, smiling as he continued speaking, “And now, by the end of today, we shall be wed. Over a thousand years of being the closest of friends, of our lives revolving around each other...years of fighting and years of grief, and now, soon, we shall be bound together through marriage.”
“Your hearts and souls have been bound together for far longer though, right? This is just a ceremony so everyone can see that. So everyone recognises it.”
Thor arched an eyebrow at her, “What an uncharacteristically sentimental thing to say.”
She shrugged, smiling playfully back at him, and began to tie up her hair, “It's been over a thousand years since I last saw a wedding. And well over two thousand since I attended one where the couple loved each other. I’m excited. And I’m happy for you.”
“I’m happy you are able to share in our joy.”
“This is more than just a wedding. This is New Asgard entering a new stage of its existence,” Brunnhilde replied, moving over to help him with his hair as he finished the last parts of his armour, “I’m happy for you and Loki, and I’m happy for our people. For our future.”
Brunnhilde carefully wove one side of his hair into intricate braids, talking as she did, telling Thor about a particularly raucous wedding celebration she’d been to on Asgard before he was born. And Thor listened happily, glad to have his mind comforted by her words, staving off his lingering anxiety.
Nothing was going to go wrong and all of this was real.
This was real.
Brunnhilde’s hands in his hair, less careful not to pull than Loki, the new gold additions to his armour, the red cloak waiting to be placed over his shoulders...it was all real. And in a room not far from here, Loki was with Bruce, who would probably not be actually required to do much to prepare his hair since Loki could use his magic to tie it as he pleased.
All of this was real. Thor had nothing to worry about, and every reason to feel nothing but joy.
After Brunnhilde had finished his hair and fastened his cloak, Thor turned to look at himself in the mirror, something he rarely did.
He had destroyed all mirrors in his house during his grief because they kept showing glimpses of a Loki that wasn’t real, and during his recovery, Loki had hated even a darkened window for the way he would see Thanos in the reflection, just behind him, about to take him again.
They didn’t have mirrors in their house, and if they needed an opinion on appearances, they just talked to each other.
Seeing himself now was almost startling to Thor.
His dark blue and shining gold armour, eyepatch that matched with the same metal and veins of gold within it, the rich red cloak, the rings of gold on his arms in place of the vambraces he usually wore, which allowed the tattoo of Loki’s name to be seen if he twisted his arm.
He saw in his own reflection a king he hadn’t fully realised he’d become.
He saw Odin and he saw Frigga, as much as he saw himself.
Brunnhilde had braided his hair on one side. Tightly woven against his head and adorned with beads, while the other side hung loose, slightly wavy and partially covering his missing eye.
He reached down to take up the crown, a more subdued, less combat-suited variation on the helmet he used to wear, and set it on his head, turning to the Valkyrie, “How do I look?”
“Almost like a king,” she smirked, “You just need one more thing.”
She beckoned him towards a side door as she continued speaking, “It’s from your soon-to-be queen. He left it one day while we were in a council meeting with a note, saying that it was the first of your surprises and the final part of your outfit for today.”
She opened the door to reveal a small room. A room where several different items of clothing, mostly armour, hung from a rail above, and where a single item rested beside two pairs of boots on the floor.
“I can’t lift it so, sorry I couldn’t put it in a box or anything.”
Thor stared in shock.
The item sitting there on the wooden floor was Mjolnir.
He was staring directly at his beloved hammer, his precious weapon, which had been destroyed, shattered, and lost entirely to him.
It had been pieced together, reformed with thin bands of gold at every break.
“How-“
“You’ll need to ask him. All I know is he left it here with instructions about when to give it to you and what to tell you, and I can’t move the thing.”
Thor broke into a hesitant smile and raised one hand.
Mjolnir flew into his grasp.
It reached his hand and felt the same as always. Exactly the same. The familiar worn leather of the handle, the perfectly balanced weight, the way its power seemed to thrum through him.
It was Mjolnir as he knew it.
This was the surprise that brought tears to his eye.
Actually, brought them to his cheek, as he examined the hammer, turning it about and watching as the gold caught the light, tossing it in the air so it flipped a few times before he caught it.
Exactly the weight and balance as before.
“And he loves to deny he has any romantic aspect to his personality,” Thor smiled fondly and traced a finger over the runes, now marked in gold.
The spell was obviously still intact. Loki must have reassembled it to ensure that.
Somehow. Thor had no idea how, but then, he wasn’t a sorcerer. Loki was. Loki was a sorcerer more powerful than Odin or Frigga ever were.
Thor continued to admire Mjolnir as they heard a knock on the door and Brunnhilde went to answer it.
“Hey guys,” Bruce said, “A-Is that your old hammer? I thought it got destroyed.”
“It seems Loki repaired it,” Thor beamed happily down at his friend.
Bruce smirked, “He said you might’ve got distracted by something. He’s ready, by the way.”
“I had best not leave him waiting,” Thor grinned and tossed Mjolnir up, catching the handle with practised ease, “Thank you, my friend. I shall see you shortly.”
Bruce and Brunnhilde had the rings Thor and Loki were to exchange, so would be close to the altar with them. But they’d travel there a different route from the couple.
As he left the room, Thor heard Bruce telling Brunnhilde that he didn’t have to do much to get Loki ready. That Loki had helped him more, and was he wearing the tunic right? Did it look okay?
Thor smiled to himself. Bruce had gladly embraced their culture from the start, but he still got anxious about anything new he had to learn or do or wear, even though there wasn’t a single Asgardian who didn’t like him enough to forgive any error or oddity.
Thor walked out to the entrance to the barracks, smiling the whole time, feeling complete as he neared the open door, with Mjolnir in his hand and Loki in his sight just a few more paces ahead.
He was dressed in a tight, dark green leather asymmetric tunic, accented in gold at the hems, and accentuating his figure beautifully. A softer green showed through in places on the sleeves and at the collar, revealing a silk shirt he must be wearing beneath, whose arms were loose and long, free at the ends as he wore no vambraces.
He hated constraining pressures around his wrists since his torture.
His tight black leather pants and black boots seemed to darken the entire outfit, making the rich green of his cloak and the gold of the necklace resting over his chest and beads in his hair more striking. A necklace Thor recognised. One that had belonged to Frigga.
On his head, Loki wore a gold horned crown, relatively simple and small.
Ornament not weapon or armour, like Thor’s.
“Nice feathers,” Loki said with a playful smile as he walked over to join Thor.
“How can you expect me to partake in this dispute again, horned one,” Thor traced a finger over Loki’s crown, “When you have just gifted me something I cannot possibly even begin to express my gratitude for?”
Loki looked seriously back at him, reaching down and pressing his hand over that which held the hammer, “Thor, you never gave up on me. You gave me another chance after I had betrayed you again and again, and when I needed you most of all, after I finally escaped from him, you had the patience to help me. To deal with my messed up mind and weakness. Reforging Mjolnir for you was nothing compared to all you have done for me.”
“Loki, I love you. How could I possibly have done anything other than help you?” Thor kissed his forehead softly, “You coming back into my life was more than I ever hoped for. I could never have given up on you before, and certainly not after believing I lost you only to find out I had not.”
He gently cupped the side of Loki’s neck, the leather collar soft beneath his fingers, “How did you even manage to reform Mjolnir?”
“I’ll tell you the full story later. For now, just know that I bound it together using gold forged from my magic. It ought to be as strong as it was, if not more so, and the original spell Odin placed on it remains intact,” he smiled softly, “It seemed wrong for you to be at your wedding without Mjolnir.”
Thor set the hammer in question down and leaned in to kiss Loki tenderly, clasping his face with both hands, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Loki smiled back, “Now, lift the damn hammer back up and let’s start. We have a wedding to get on with.”
Thor grinned and summoned Mjolnir into his right hand, holding the other out for Loki, “Shall we?”
With a fond smile, Loki placed his hand into Thor’s, “We shall.”
Together, they began to walk slowly through the aisle formed by their people while musicians started to play.
Thor was delighted to see all the smiles, their people happy for them, for this new age of Asgard to begin, for this step towards a sort of kingdom they knew.
Their people and then the council, his friends, the Avengers and the partners of those who had them, and at the end of the aisle, Bruce and Brunnhilde.
Heimdall stood ahead, on a platform over the rock where Thor and Loki had sat for one final time with Odin.
There, the former brothers stepped up to join him.
Thor smiled across the short distance at Loki, but his smile immediately fell.
Loki looked afraid.
Terrified.
Glancing back over his shoulder, he caught sight of something, a towering purple figure.
Thanos.
An illusion because Thor knew the real Titan was dead, had seen the decapitated head this morning when Loki had a sudden panic, but Loki was seeing him now.
To him, right now, Thanos was real and alive.
Then, suddenly, an arrow sailed through the illusion, dissipating it in an instant.
Thor turned to Clint, who shrugged and put away his bow as the music came to a stop. Apparently the arrow was interpreted as the signal to start the wedding.
“Are you alright?” Thor murmured, clasping Loki’s neck softly.
Loki smiled shakily, turning his gaze from the spot where the titan had been, “Just an illusion.”
“Just an illusion,” Thor repeated as he touched their foreheads together, “You’re safe, Loki. He isn’t here.”
Loki drew a shuddering breath, one hand gripping Thor’s shoulder, “He isn’t here. He’s dead.”
“That’s right,” Thor kissed his forehead gently, glad that the projections and sound amplifications hadn’t begun yet. To anyone who could see, they were simply sharing a tender moment, and only those nearest the altar - their friends - would have seen Loki’s fear.
“Sorry,” Loki whispered, trembling slightly.
“You never have to apologise, Loki,” Thor brushed his cheek softly, “Are you able to continue?”
“Yes.”
“Alright,” Thor gently touched his fingers over one of the gold shapes on his necklace, drawing Loki’s mind further from what he just saw, “This is...”
“Mother’s,” Loki whispered.
The same necklace Loki used to fidget with when he was an infant and she held him, which Thor remembered her gifting him at the same time as Odin bestowed Mjolnir upon him.
Thor smiled softly, looking from the gold up to Loki’s green eyes, “It suits you.”
“What do you imagine she’d say? If she was here?”
Thor softly tucked a beaded braid behind Loki’s shoulder, letting his fingers grace Loki’s skin, “She’d be delighted. Proud. But roll her eyes and smile, chastising us for taking so long to reach this point.”
Loki smirked weakly, tears in his eyes, still slightly shaky from having seen Thanos.
Softly taking Loki’s hand, Thor leaned in to kiss him, but pulled back as Heimdall cleared his throat, making them both laugh.
Intentionally interrupting them to make them laugh.
“Forgive us,” Thor smiled at him, knowing he had done that to help calm Loki further, rather than to hurry them “Please proceed.”
Heimdall smirked then raised his head to address the assembled crowd, beginning the ceremony itself.
His voice echoed throughout New Asgard as the video of the ceremony showed on projections all around the crowd, courtesy of Tony. But even with the words being richly carried everywhere, Thor didn’t really register anything he said.
He heard what was said distantly and replied automatically, having imagined this moment so many times since they decided on their vows and the ceremony proceedings.
Mostly, he just focused on Loki.
His familiar green eyes full of a calm happiness so unlike the expressions they bore just after he first escaped Thanos.
His soft, adoring smile and his rich, strong voice as he spoke, no longer a hoarse rasp.
The coolness of his touch as he slipped a gold, emerald and ruby ring on Thor’s finger, and the smoothness of his skin as Thor slid a matching one on Loki’s.
His dexterous hands as he wove a lock of his own hair into Thor’s, and the silky feeling of his raven hair in Thor’s hands as he did the reverse, braiding gold into the black.
The only words Thor truly heard and registered were the final few, spoken after their lives were symbolically woven together, as they held hands and looked across the small distance that separated them.
“In front of all of Asgard, with the blessings of our ancestors and all those who came before, may your lives forever be bound together, a single vein through Yggdrasil, never to be severed or split apart,” the watcher said proudly, “With these vows spoken, I declare you to now be one, joined in marriage, the king and queen of Asgard.”
Cheers erupted throughout the kingdom, as Thor and Loki smiled at each other.
“Now, you may kiss,” Heimdall leaned in to whisper before taking a step back as Thor pressed forward and caught Loki’s lips in a deep and passionate kiss.
“My queen,” he grinned as he pulled back, looking in pure adoration at his new husband.
“My king,” Loki smiled, brushing his fingers over Thor’s temple beside his eyepatch, before surging in for another kiss, while all around New Asgard their people and their friends cheered.
-
The wedding feast was being held in a large field that belonged to New Asgard but was not yet built upon or used for farming.
It was the easiest way to accommodate all their people, since they didn’t have a large enough hall built yet, and it did away with the challenge of seating arrangements, which they had found themselves unable to resolve.
Typically, a wedding feast would have long tables for those outside of the royal family and the couple and their families, who would sit at another table perpendicular to, and higher than, the rest.
But Thor and Loki had no family other than each other, and they were the only members of royalty, so it would be a lonely table of two.
Heimdall was essentially family so could join them, and Brunnhilde and Bruce as well, as the other members of The Revengers. Maybe Korg and Miek.
But, of course, that meant non-Asgardians would be at the head table, which would anger those members of the council who already objected to Loki on the grounds of him not being Asgardian. And Avengers at the head table caused the same problem, although Loki would feel more comfortable with them than those council members who he knew didn’t like him.
Ultimately, to avoid any of that sort of stress, there were no tables. Several large woven blankets were laid out on the grass while magic lamps Loki had created floated around. There were several tables on which food and drink were placed and deep basins of mead and wine for people to take their drinks from, but the meal was eaten with people sitting on the ground or on whatever they might choose to bring to sit on.
And they could sit with whoever they chose, wherever they chose, except for in the central space marked off for dancing to the music that played out over speakers now the ceremony itself was over. The musicians were of Asgard as well, and Thor hadn’t wanted them unable to partake in the celebrations.
Thor waited until he saw that everyone seemed to have a drink, the food not yet served, before he stood and silenced everybody with his mere presence.
A towering beacon of shining gold and red against the darkening sky.
“Thank you, my friends,” Thor beamed at the crowd, his voice carrying over the space with ease.
He didn’t need the speakers to be heard. Thor’s voice could roll like thunder throughout a space far more expansive than this.
“Thank you for joining Loki and I to celebrate our marriage. I would like to commence our revelries by asking you to raise your cups and drink with me.”
He lifted his gold cup in one hand and held it before him.
“Loki and I may have had our differences, as I am certain you all know. We may have fought and argued, bickered over the most foolish and the most serious matters. But through all that, one thing never changed. That I love him. There is no one else I could love or respect or trust more than him. No one who is so much my equal, who challenges me so wisely, and who brings me so much joy,” Thor smiled fondly down at Loki, seeing his warm, genuine smile in return. The open affection in his green eyes.
“We have all suffered. We have lost our home and a great many of those we love. I had thought I had lost the one I loved the most, but a year ago this very day, Loki did what Loki does, and defied all expectation, defied the fate anyone else in his position would surely have suffered, and he returned home. He returned to me, and I found a joy I thought I could never feel again.”
He held out his hand, and Loki took it, allowing Thor to pull him to his feet.
“My friends, I ask you to raise your cups and drink with me. Drink to Loki. Your new queen, and my dearest friend. Without whom I am not, could never be, complete.”
He lifted his cup and drank, hearing everyone else cry out their toast to Loki as they followed suit.
As soon as he had finished his drink, he turned to press a gentle kiss to Loki’s lips, smiling as they parted.
He kept one hand on Loki’s lower back as he looked back out on the crowds, “Now, please, eat! Drink! Dance! Enjoy yourselves and celebrate this new chapter in the future of our realm!”
More cheering, and several banging of hard objects together, as they kissed again. More deeply. More of a show for the people now, before they sat back down.
“Thank you for not asking me to make a speech too,” Loki leaned in to whisper.
“I expect they would not wish to delay eating for much longer,” Thor touched his forehead to Loki’s, “It would be cruel to make them wait.”
Thor knew Loki would feel uncomfortable speaking before everyone, his mind still a long way from recovered from Thanos’ torture and the damage it took even before that. He could enjoy some subtle dramatics, but struggled to raise his voice enough to be heard even across a room, and large crowds made him uncomfortable.
Even now, they sat at the far edge of the eating area on their own blanket so Loki wouldn’t be surrounded.
“Your Majesties,” Brunnhilde said, coming over with one of her partners, carrying a few plates of food, which they held out to the couple.
“Thank you,” Thor smiled as he took the plates and set them down, “Would you care to join us?”
“Lemme grab some more food and wine and I’ll be right with you.”
She returned a few months later, but with Heimdall instead of her partner this time.
“Siggy’s intimidated by you,” the Valkyrie explained as she sat down.
“Ought I be offended that you’re not?” Thor smirked.
“I’m not intimidated by anyone, Your Majesty.”
She downed her cup of wine, then stared as it refilled.
Courtesy of Loki, who offered a playful smile as she looked to him, “You might be my new favourite majesty.”
Loki preened and offered a teasing grin to Thor, who chuckled loudly and grabbed him for a fervent kiss.
He thought about making a joke about Loki stealing his subjects’ loyalty, but that came too close to the suspicions of the council about Loki’s intentions, and Thor didn’t want to risk making Loki think he believed that at all. He was already afraid of being thought to be conspiring for power, when he wanted no power or responsibility at all. He had refused the offer of a seat on the council, and agreed to be the chief sorcerer solely because he was the only sorcerer in New Asgard.
Thor kept one arm around Loki’s waist as they ate and drank and talked with Brunnhilde and Heimdall. Brunnhilde told them stories of other weddings she’d been to and some moments of amusement on Sakaar, and Heimdall could always offer rich offerings to conversation, having seen so much in so many places.
It was enjoyable and relaxed.
Loki always talked less around others than when it was just him and Thor alone, and tonight was no exception. But Thor could tell he was comfortable and happy. Not suffering any memories or hallucinations of Thanos, and not in too much pain from any of the long-term - hopefully not permanent - damage that titan had done to his nerves, muscles and joints.
The stronger than usual alcohol probably helped too. Everything they were serving tonight was brewed in New Asgard or Vanaheim, and so it was a lot stronger than anything they’d import from other places on Earth.
After spending an hour or so, maybe more, sitting with Heimdall and Brunnhilde, they had to concede that they were required to tend to their guests.
But then, after Thor proposed this, Loki stood and pointedly slipped his cloak from his shoulders, revealing in full his tight leather outfit that hugged his body in all the right places.
It was impossible for Thor not to pause and indulge in looking.
“I was too hot with a cloak as well,” Loki said flippantly, brushing his hair back behind his shoulder, letting his long fingers grace the skin beneath his collar.
Thor swallowed, drawing a slow breath as he stood, grabbing Loki around his waist and tugging him closer, their bodies pressed together, “Loki, those clothes are sending my mind in a very particular direction.”
“I should hope so,” Loki kissed him just beneath his jaw.
“Is it too early to retire?”
Loki grinned and leaned in, close to his ear so his breath ghosted Thor’s skin, “Far too early.”
Thor groaned in frustration, but couldn’t help but smile at Loki’s obvious game. Teasing Thor in a way that would only make the end of the night all the more perfect.
Loki linked one arm through Thor’s, but Thor pulled away and shifted to his other side.
“I wish you to be on the side I have an eye,” he said in answer to the silent question as he summoned Mjolnir to his free hand, “I do not wish to be blind to you. Ever.”
The soft earnest smile Loki offered in response showed he felt the significance and meaning behind those words, but then he smirked playfully, “Then how am I to sneak off for mischief?”
“You are perfectly capable of creating endless mischief within my sight.”
Loki laughed, “I believe it’s time to test that theory.”
And, he did test the theory.
As they walked together throughout the gathered groups of their guests, pausing for varying amounts of times to talk to people, Loki cast small, subtle spells to cause minor mischief.
Just small and amusing things, which everyone could laugh about. A cup of wine overflowing or suddenly leaking although it had no cracks that could be found, someone tripping into a compromising position on another person in their vicinity, items of food vanishing from one plate to another.
It was mischief for fun, not to cause strife or hardship, and Thor delighted in how much fun Loki was having, all while they both maintained outwardly calm demeanours, which devolved to shared grins and quiet laughs when they turned to love to another group.
The final group they moved onto was the Avengers.
At which point, Loki decided it was time to tease Thor again.
He stepped away from Thor just a few paces from the Avengers, and bent over to lift up one of his magic lamps from the ground, spending far longer than necessary in that position before lifting it and tossing it into the air, where it remained.
Like all the others.
Like that one had been until moments before, when it definitely intentionally had been allowed to fall, just so Loki had an excuse to tantalise Thor.
It worked.
Thor swallowed and as Loki returned, indulged in allowing his arm to wrap around Loki’s waist, sliding lower as they walked those last couple of steps to their friends.
“Need a splash of cold water there, Point Break?” Tony asked with a laugh as they finally reached the group, “I might because, Lokes, you look..”
“Great,” Pepper finished for Tony, “Both of you. And that ceremony and your speech were lovely. Congratulations.”
The other Avengers joined in congratulating them, offering words of support or just raising their cups to drink.
“Thank you, my friends,” Thor sat down with them, Loki joining him, “And thank you for coming to celebrate with us. I hope you are enjoying yourselves thus far.”
“This is amazing, Thor,” Rhodey grinned, “Seriously. You guys really celebrate a wedding in style.”
“And the drinks are also amazing,” Tony added, “Val told me they’re all made locally. You gotta start exporting this stuff to New York.”
“With warning labels,” Natasha smirked, “One small cup pretty much floored Peter and his friends.”
“They’re too young to be drinking aren’t they?” Steve asked, obviously the least affected by the alcohol.
Thor looked over at the apparently passed out teenagers, “In Asgard we drink alcohol from infancy.”
“Don’t you consider a hundred years old to still be infancy though?”
Thor smirked.
The differences between human and Asgardian ageing and development had formed the subject of more than one conversation, and Thor had yet to convince any other than Bruce and Tony that it was impossible to compare the two. That the difference between humans and Asgardians was so substantial that even if you calculated equivalencies, it meant nothing.
“Loki, would you please help the young ones with their overindulgence?”
“You presume I recall that spell,” Loki said as he stood, letting his hand brush along Thor’s shoulders before walking over to the group of young humans, crouching beside them, a green glow whispering from his hands over each of the group.
“What spell?” Steve frowned.
“It will sober them up immediately, although you may wish to water their drinks down for the rest of the night,” Thor explained, “Loki taught himself this spell so he could keep up with me when drinking. It took me many decades to figure out what he was doing.”
“Wow,” Tony smirked, “Can he teach me to do that because I’m pretty sick of Cap being able to out drink me.”
“Not unless you are a magical entity.”
“Did you just call your spouse an entity?” Sam arched an eyebrow.
“He did, and he will pay for it later,” Loki replied, kneeling back down and kissing Thor on the jaw before turning to Clint, “Agent Barton, thank you for your swift intervention earlier.”
The archer shrugged, “It’s your wedding day. That dead asshole shouldn’t get to fuck it up.”
Thor smiled gratefully at him.
It had taken some time, but after a while, Clint’s anger at his mind control had turned from Loki to Thanos, the one really responsible. Seeing the decapitated remains of the titan had helped. Given him a visual enemy to detest.
Thor and Loki remained talking with the Avengers for a while, longer than the other groups. It was ultimately music that pulled them away.
They had arranged the music to shuffle through different styles over the course of the night, and it had just moved onto something slow, romantic, and familiar.
The crowd had thinned a lot by now, many people having retired to their homes or those of others, leaving sufficiently few for Loki to feel comfortable dancing in that central space.
And he did feel comfortable for a while.
Before he didn’t.
He tensed suddenly, fingers tightening on Thor’s shoulders.
Thor paused, “Loki?”
“I-I saw him again,” Loki breathed, looking around, “I know it’s not real. I know. But, I..I..”
This day was so significant, so important to them, it was no wonder Loki’s fractured mind was trying more than usual to terrify him.
“Close your eyes,” Thor whispered, gently pulling his queen closer, “I’ve got you. I promise he isn’t here.”
Loki shakily obliged, shutting his eyes and hiding his head against Thor’s shoulder.
“We can retire now if you wish.”
“No,” Loki murmured, “I want to keep dancing. He won’t take this night from us.”
“He won’t,” Thor kissed his temple softly, starting to lead the dance again, holding Loki close so he could follow without having to open his eyes.
Loki stepped onto his feet as he had done before when tired, and held himself close against Thor, hiding his face and allowing the music and the dance to drift over them.
For three songs, they stayed that way.
Thor felt Loki’s body relax towards the end of the third, and felt it safe to lead Loki away to get another drink.
“Are you alright?” Thor asked softly, handing him a cup of wine, “Shall we rest?”
“Only if you wish it.”
“What I wish is for you to be happy.”
“I am, Thor,” Loki kissed him, his hands shaking just slightly as he touched them to Thor’s jaw, “I am happy, and it’s our wedding, so I want to dance some more.”
Thor smiled fondly, hugging Loki tightly, and only releasing him when the music changed style, and Loki grinned to tug him back to the dance area.
This music belonged to a later Earth era, and was more lively, not upbeat.
Their music for the night had been chosen to cover a range of eras and realms. Traditional Asgardian and Vanir for walking to the altar and the first few hours of the feast, and then Earth music from every decade Thor and Loki had visited the realm together to play over the speakers after the musicians had finished for the night.
Thor recalled the steps to this dance as easily as the last, and soon their human friends were copying them, following the movements that belonged to a time only Steve had been alive to see. And he had probably been frozen by the time people were dancing to this sort of music.
About half of The Avengers and several Asgardians, including both of Brunnhilde’s partners, were still dancing by the time Loki stopped, breathless as he stood still for the first time in perhaps over an hour.
He took Thor’s hand and pulled him a step back towards their house.
“I would like to retire now,” he smiled, fingers lacing with Thor’s, their wedding rings touching.
“As my queen desires,” Thor grinned as he kissed him tenderly, slipping his arm around Loki’s waist to lead him home.
“Have fun Your Majesties,” Brunnhilde called over her shoulder, drawing attention from the others who had been dancing.
Thor and Loki didn’t mind.
There was no bedding ceremony, but everyone knew that the couple would ultimately retire to consummate the marriage, and so those less constrained by hierarchy and politeness - that is the more drunk humans - cheered or clapped as Thor and Loki kissed deeply, and Thor then lifted his queen into his arms to carry home.
To carry through their door and into the bedroom, pausing only to kiss him periodically and kick the door open and closed.
“It seems we are married,” Loki said as Thor set him down, keeping a hold of his waist.
It was strangely quiet here, after the music and lively conversation outside, which was muted, but still audible. People would continue to enjoy themselves outside, and no doubt would until dawn.
Thor grinned, “It seems we are. Although, there is one step of the ceremony yet to complete.”
Loki’s smile echoed Thor as he reached up to unfasten Thor’s cloak, letting it drop to the floor, “So there is.”
Thor watched the red fabric fall, but broke into a laugh as he saw his own feet. In a shimmer of green as the cloak landed, his boots were replaced by his Crocs, as were Loki’s.
“How did you-“ Thor laughed loudly, “Have I been wearing these all day?”
“Ever since you met me outside the barracks,” Loki grinned.
“Surprise number two?”
“Surprise number two,” Loki repeated, kissing him deeply as he continued to slowly remove each element of his clothing in turn.
***
As the final item of his armour hit the ground, Loki kissed him, his cool hands sliding down Thor’s abdomen to his hips, round to his back, pulling himself close, flush against Thor’s body.
The sensation of Loki’s clothes against Thor’s skin was frustratingly tantalising - the silk of his sleeves and the firm leather of his tunic and pants. The metal of the necklace that hung over his chest, and of his wedding ring that grazed Thor’s skin as Loki’s dexterous hands wandered.
“You are wearing too much, Loki,” Thor murmured, tilting his head to expose more of his neck to Loki’s lips.
Lips Thor knew could undo him entirely.
“That’s a soluble problem, Thor.”
Humming contentedly as Loki kept teasing him, kept toying with him and bringing him indulgent pleasure with his hands and lips.
He began to let his own hands brush over Loki’s clothes, seeking out a fastening or a clasp or something, but finding nothing but firmly sewn leather.
“I like this outfit, Loki, but how in Ymir’s name does it unfasten?” Thor demanded in frustration at last, pulling back and frowning.
Loki grinned in delight, “It doesn’t.”
He took a step towards the bed, carefully removing Frigga’s necklace and setting it down reverently on the bedside table.
“It would be a shame for The Mighty Thor to not demonstrate his strength on his wedding night,” Loki continued, tracing a finger along the edge of his collar.
Thor’s smile grew, “You’re sewn into it?”
“Bruce is skilled with stitching leather it seems, and I may have strengthened the seams with my magic,” Loki gave him a challenging smirk, “As a test of your might. Surprise number three.”
“Have I told you that I love you?” Thor stepped closer and took a hold of the edges of the collar.
“I can’t recall. Perhaps you need to tell me again.”
His eyes darkened as Thor pulled hard, tearing along the angular seam at the front of the tunic.
“I love you,” Thor said as he kissed the skin now exposed, tearing more of the clothing, the leather and the silk beneath it, to gain access to a path from Loki’s collarbone to his naval.
He let his lips linger against the skin just above his pelvis before straightening to capture Loki’s lips, relishing the soft moan he made as Thor ripped the leather seam on one shoulder open and allowed the tunic to fall away on that side.
Two more powerful tugs at the rigid leather and the tunic was in pieces on the ground, leaving just the thin, green silk top beneath, already torn almost in half.
But Thor chose to slip that over Loki’s head, enjoying the sight of the smooth fabric brushing over his pale skin.
Thor kissed him fervently, pushing him back onto the bed without parting, kneeling over his body and deepening the kiss further. He wanted to indulge in tasting him, and in exploring his beautiful flesh with his hands and lips just as Loki had done to him earlier.
So he did.
He followed his desire and chased Loki’s moans and gasps of pleasure, letting his mouth and hands roam over Loki’s neck and torso until he reached his hips and roughly tore the seams on the pants so they at last fell away too.
As soon as Loki was as naked as he was, Thor allowed himself to grind their bodies together, kissing Loki as much as his own gasps allowed.
“Will you use your magic or-“
“You do it,” Loki cut Thor off breathlessly, “I want you to do it.”
Thor smiled against Loki’s neck as he kissed his skin once more before shifting back and reaching into the bedside drawer to grab the lubricant. A new one. Thor didn’t know if it was better but they’d run out of the one they had before.
Squeezing some onto his hand, Thor slicked two fingers thoroughly, making a show of doing so just to darken Loki’s gaze with even greater lust and prompt him to bite his lower lip in a way that looked beautiful and alluring.
Holding Loki’s hip with one hand, Thor pressed the other inside him slowly, carefully, watching his face for any hint of pain as he began to move and scissor his fingers, opening Loki up.
He added fingers as Loki demanded it, breathless and pleading as Thor lightly teased him until he was tugging Thor into a messy kiss and insisting he fill him already.
Thor grinned against his lips before positioning himself and Loki’s hips, lining himself up before slowly, carefully pushing inside.
Loki accommodated him perfectly, the feeling overwhelming Thor’s senses as he began to slowly move, thrusting gently at first until Loki matched his rhythm then increased it himself.
His feet hooked behind Thor’s back, his hands gripping him tightly, then grasping the sheets or his arms or anything, always moving and seeming new purchase as the pleasure grew, leaving him breathless, back arched and the most delicious sounds leaving his parted lips.
Thor’s movements became less coordinated as he neared his climax, and he pressed his whole body against Loki’s, hands holding his, head ducked against his shoulder.
He shifted his body just enough to take Loki in hand, bringing him to his release within just a few strokes.
Loki clenched as he climaxed, head thrown back and a moan of pure ecstasy filling the air around them, sparking a surge of desire in Thor. He set a faster, more desperate pace, feeling himself impossibly close, just mere moments, the smallest of movements, away.
Then Loki clenched around him again.
Thor cried out loudly as he filled his queen with his seed, distantly aware of the thunder that echoed him outside.
They had chosen to have no bedding ceremony, but without doubt every person in New Asgard that night would be perfectly aware that the king had just reached his climax and the marriage was certainly now consummated.
The thought made him laugh weakly as he dropped his head against Loki’s.
***
“What?” Loki murmured, panting heavily as his fingers languidly brushed over Thor’s bicep.
Thor kissed his sweat-damped hair softly, “I never created thunderstorms during an orgasm until you came back to me.”
Loki glanced out the window, smirking tiredly, as he cast a spell to clean them both up, saving either from having to attempt to move more than just to get their heads on the pillows and their bodies beneath the sheets.
Which they did, slowly, languidly, indulging in the beautiful afterglow.
“Can I sleep?” Loki asked with a perfectly serene smile playing on his lips as he lay his head against Thor’s chest, “When I wake, will we still both be here? Will this still all be real and not a mere elaborate and perfect dream?”
Thor bent to kiss his head gently.
The words were an echo of those Loki had spoken the first night after he returned here, when he was still so physically and mentally shattered, far too thin and far too weak. Injured, broken in every respect save for his spirit, which had weathered even such brutal torture.
A year ago to this day.
Now he was stronger. Not as strong as he used to be and still suffering from recurrent aches, nightmares, panic attacks and a number of other consequences of severe and prolonged torture.
But he was stronger and happier and calmer.
He was the Loki Thor knew and loved, he was the Loki he had always loved, and he was here, alive.
And now he was the queen of Asgard.
“You can sleep,” Thor whispered gently, “Every moment we have experienced today has been real. This is real. We are both here, we are married, and shall still be tomorrow.”
He found Loki’s hand and kissed his wedding ring softly, “This is a reality more perfect than any dream you or I could have ever devised.”
“All the more perfect for the pain that led us here,” Loki smiled and leaned up to press a kiss against his lips, “Goodnight, my king.”
He settled his head back down against Thor’s chest, his ornately braided hair spilling out over both their skin.
Thor stroked a hand up and down Loki’s back, unable to stop smiling as he shut his eye, warmed by a perfect and unbreakable happiness because despite everything the universe attempted to use to drive them apart, Loki was here, and he always would be.
-