a not so trusting god
Once back at the palace, she went through her strategy. Cora was enraged, she had always kept close tabs on Asgard's royal family, and there was a big empty space in Loki's life, between the heartbreaking fall from the rainbow bridge to his first appearance on New York. She never stopped thinking that something important had happened during that period. When she asked Heimdall if he had known that the prince was alive, he told her he did but that there had been a cloak spell put over the god of mischief that didn't let him follow his trail, although he didn't know if the god had put it himself or if it could have been the act of a third party, which now seemed like the most possible option
Now she knew, and she was furious, she waited patiently on the head of the long table, it was a sort of meeting room, not modern at all, clearly inspired by medieval interior architecture, it wasn't dark though, the place had a tall ceiling and equally tall windows that let the clear light penetrate the closed space.
Two guards opened the large double doors, one held a snow globe the size of a soccer ball.
"Princess Lenora requested this titan to be brought to Your Majesty, and to pass on that Surtur can't leave his realm, but has sent a giant to bring you there, Queen Cora" said the guard that wasn't holding the miniature titan, bowing his head. The other approached the woman and handed her the globe, also curtsying
"Thank you, Ronaldo, thank you, Borgest, you may leave" Said Cora with a sweet smile
"Let's take you to your new home, huh?" she said to the titan, she was quite troubled with her choices, but one look through his mind and she was confident once agin on her actions
- - -
"Ah, my queen, I apologize for the trouble" Said the fire giant bending down when the woman walked in.
"Please, in other circumstances I would have just waited for you to come here, but this is a matter of urgency" Said the woman sitting opposite to the tower of flames that was Surtur. He motioned his hand to show his attention
"I want to make a trade" She said, bringing the snow globe to the table, Surtur eyed it curiously and she continued "I've known for quite a while, that when Odin casted out the goddess of death, he sent her to you, therefore, she is imprisoned by you"
"If you are implying that in exchange for whatever it is you have there, I should free Hela, I will have to refrain from accepting that deal, my Queen" Surtur said with a concerned frown
"No, dear, I know the dangers her hunger for death bring to everyone, what i'd like in exchange for my gift, would be your permission to let me visit her from time to time, i'll need information on how her imprisonment has been managed, as well" Said the woman with a clear and confident yet soft voice
"Well, I don't see the problem, what is the gift?"
Cora handed him the sphere and explained "It's a titan that made me very mad, do what you like with the little shit, you can break him out of the globe if you'd like, use him as a toothpick if you wish to, I don't care. He has inflicted far too much unnecessary pain, he deserves whatever you give him" With that she bid him goodbye and left.
- - -
Cora didn't see anyone when she got back from dealing with the titan and Surtur, which was understandable seeing as it was almost 5am, she had been projecting for more than 12 hours, and needless to say, she was as hungry as a bilgesnipe. Thus why she made her way to the kitchen, too lazy to walk, she just straight up teleported to the fridge.
"NORNS!" Sounded a terrifed shriek from the kitchen island behind Cora
"What are you doing up, horns?" There in one of the stools facing her was the god of mischief sipping on a cup of tea (that he had almost spilled on himself when the woman magically appeared)
Ignoring her question, he retaliated with one of his own "You have asgardian magic?"
She just furrowed her eyebrows, stared at him for a couple more seconds then turned around to the fridge to carry on with what she had initially gone down to
"Also, why is it that my oaf of a brother always finds himself unable to talk about you, even though you're his 'bestie'. as he so eloquently puts it? And why can't I see your face, or anything about you when I look into his mind?" he continued
"Better yet, why do you get into your brother's head? Not very polite, have you heard about the term 'privacy'?" hummed Cora still with her back to the annoying god
"Says the one who put a spell on him" huffed the prince, taking Cora slightly by surprise, though she figured that a magic user such as himself would be able to find the traces of magic in his brother's mind if he looked hard enough, which apparently he really did
"You don't know what you're talking about, Lackey" says the woman, now audibly annoyed
"It's Loki" said the god with equal annoyance "And for the record, I don't trust you, especially around Thor"
"That's so sweet, and I wasn't expecting 'trusting' to be a prominet character trait of the god of lies" said Cora with an eye roll
"What is it that you're hiding, you quim?" Loki had now left his stool and had started walking towards the woman, who, even if she had her back turned to him, could sense him closer
"Don't test me, greaseball"
Loki kept moving until he was right behind her "I bet you're not even from this wretched planet" Cora didn't flinch from the hiss nor the sudden hot breath hitting the back of her neck
"Who are you, Cora Francis?" when he asked this he tried to grab her upper arm, in a swift move the angry woman had him pressed against the nearest wall with the same arm he had tried to touch her with, twisted behind his back
She didn't say anything else, Loki struggled against hher grip for a minute before she vanished from thin air, leaving the asgardian prince with a sore right arm, rage and just hint of admiration
- - -
The next morning she went back to the kitchen, completely opposite to last night, she found everyone but Loki there, so she put on her typical playful smile
"Good morning, Sabrina" cooed the billionaire, soon followed by the other heroes' greetings
"Hey doll, we saved ya some pancakes over there" said Bucky pointing to the counter next to the stove where, sure enough, two plates with stacks of the delicious food waited to be taken
"Oh, yeah, one of them is for Loki, he hasn't showed up yet, so..." added Steve when he saw her glancin at the second plate confusedly
"Oh..." was the only thing Cora said, with a slight frown that didn't go unnoticed by anyone (except for Clint and Peter, who were too busy discussing the Hunger Games), but no one said anything, seeing as Cora quickly covered it putting her bubbly facade back up
"Cory, yesterday before captain crabby here interrupted you, you were going to tell me something about Strange..." Said Tony batting his lashes once the woman sat down at the dining table, prompting his magic friend to spill any dish she had on his magic crush
"Yes! You won't believe it, he said 'I wish he'd call me to help him track someone'" at the cofusion on everyone's faces she added, "for him that's like the same as saying 'I miss him so much I think i'm dying'" she said with enthusiasm while Stark looked like he had died and gone to heaven
Suddenly the beaming smile that danced on Cora's face disappeared along with her kind and playful aura, and the reason was the man that had just walked through the door
"Oh, look who decided to make an appearance, morning raindeer games" Was all Cora needed to hear to get up from her seat at the table, stomp towards the exit, shove Loki's shoulder on her way and leave the whole team shell shocked
"What did you do, brother?" Asked the god of thunder in a low growl, to which the prince scoffed and rolled his eyes
"I don't know how you deal with her, i merely asked her some questions last night when we bumped into each other" He still didn't understand the fury of the woman, but apparently the rest did as they all let out collective 'Oh's'
"Did no one give horns the 'Cora' talk?" Asked the archer
"Thor was supposed to do it, point break, this is your fault"
"Yeah, now we have to deal with her, last time she set Clint's bow on fire"
The 'Cora' talk was the name the team had given to the speech they have to regularly give about their newest teammate.
Ever since the conference where they made her an official avenger, or when she had her first meeting with the secretary of state. Basically, the speech communicated that you shouldn't ask questions and just trust her power, if you don't, they would not be held responsible for whatever Cora did in retaliation, the UN wasn't really happy with it at the beginning, but it was as if out of nowhere one morning they decided to stop pestering the team about it and just accept it
Just as the blonde god was opening his mouth to defend himself, an orange circle formed in the middle of the room, and seconds after a very angry looking wizard walked through it
"You have all got ten seconds to explain to me why you have Loki on Earth and why Cora is sending me angry texts, I thought I told you to take care of her" Strange all but yelled at the pretty much cowering group
"My brother is here because Odin casted him out... again" trailed off Thor before continuing "As for Cora... Loki angered her with questions" finished the god while anxiously scratching the back of his neck
The sorcerer sighed and ran a hand through his hair "You idiots forgot the 'Cora' talk" Everyone nodded and he just started moving his hands to open another portal in the ceiling, from it fell the woman who had left the room minutes ago
"...gotta go, Strange made me fall from a hole, yeah, yeah, love you, bye" Said Cora, who was talking to her phone before she stood up and straightened her clothes, much to her friend's confusion, who had only been able to catch the ending of her conversation, silently wondering who it could have been
"STEPHIE!" she ran to her friend and jumped into his arms for a hug, he complied and returned the gesture, after the greetings she turned to face the others "Don't worry, Tones, i'm not stealing your man" she winked and everyone bursted out laughing except the two goateed men who flushed crimson
"Doesn't look like it" Natasha snickered
"Please, been there done that" she said happily, the shook her head as if to dismiss any past memories of her nights with the sorcerer
"Enough of that, what did the snake do to you?" Asked Strange giving her a look of concern. Cora shifted uncomfortably, her usual demeanor faltering a bit under the gaze of the man towering over her
"Well, you know- ha! Um, yeah, too many questions... I thought you guys would give him the... What do you guys call it? Oh right, yeah the 'Cora' talk or something" Cora said with an uncharacteristic nervousness on her tone
"I apologize, lolite, it was my duty to deliver the 'Cora' talk, it just went over my head after yesterday" said the god of thunder sheepishly
"If anyone says 'Cora' talk one more time i'll drop kick them" said a very irritated god of mischief
"You just said it" said Cora, and in one second she jumped, kicked the god and left him on the floor. "Okay, now we're even"
"HOW DOES THAT LEAVE US EVEN YOU MEWLING QUIM" roared the recovering prince
"I don't like questions, if you can't get behind that then you better get used to me pinning you against walls and or drop kicking you, mewling quim" said the woman dead serious but with a hint of teasing in her voice, going slowly but surely back to her usual playful ways
"Wait- pinning against walls? When did that happen?!" questioned eagerly the falcon and everyone started wiggling their eyebrows and cooing suggestively at Cora
"Can you really not put two and two together? I got angry at his questions so I ignored him, he tried to grab my arm and I stopped him. Plain as Steve's chicken and rice" she ended with an unamused eye roll
"Hey! Buck said it was delicious, I even used pepper, not just salt" whined the captain, earning a 'seriously' look from Cora
Everyone else just stayed silent, so Cora faced the raven haired prince again "So?"
"I don't think i want a repeat of just now, however I wouldn't mind a repetition of last night's events, though maybe not in the same context as it happened then" Said the god with the same level of playfulness the woman usually had, and that for some reason, caused Cora to momentarily be at a loss for words
"I wasn't asking if you had a dominance or pain kink, greaseball"
"Then what, pray tell, were you asking then, darling?" The nickname definitely didn't help, and the fact he seemed so unfazed by her teasing made it a challenge to keep the back and forth going.
"I was asking if you'd stop being a brat and cease the questioning, my prince" she clarified not letting go of the mocking tone, while she still didn't miss the way something flashed through his eyes at the flirtatious use of 'my prince', something Cora would definitely keep in mind, just in case, of course
"I won't, but I still don't trust you, at all" his voice was once again cold and full of hatred, which did nothing to change Cora's air of confidence
"As I said, never expected you to trust me, just don't be a royal pain in my ass, your majesty" with that she said goodbye to Stephen (who was apparently going back to the sanctum to get ready for a 'not a date' with Tony) and went to her room once again