magic and crowns

- - -

"I'm quitting school and the avengers, I'm officially done"

Everyone turned from their activities to see Parker, who had come to the compound two hours later than he actually did during the week, storming in the common room, throwing his backpack, aiming pointedly towards the captain, who just dodged the attack without looking up and carried on doodling in a sketchbook Natasha had gifted him for his birthday

"Someone ask him what's wrong, please" said Steve absentmindedly, still not sparing a glance

"Don't, if you do, he won't stop talking" whined Sam, jumping at the opportunity to drag the youngest avenger

"What's wrong, little spider?" asked Cora, partly to spite the falcon, but more importantly, because she was worried

The spider-man was fuming, burning holes into Steve's oblivious head, then, without moving his eyes, he answered Cora, "I got detention an-"

He was interrupted by everyone jumping up and asking him a variety of questions, what he had done, why he had done it, if they had to go speak to the school, etc. but everyone shut up just in time for a hushed voice to be heard very clearly

"I've never been proud-" the inappropriate praise was cut off by a smack sound and a yelp "ouch! Cora!" cried the god of mischief when he realized she was the one who had slapped him in the arm

"Don't encourage it, stupid prince" she scolded sternly, causing the prince in question to hold his arms up in - not so mock - defense

"Explain, Peter" ordered the russian spy, and really, who would dare go against her orders?

"Okay, but before you yell at me, I literally did what Steve always supposedly did"

"Get beaten up in an alley?"

"Hum the national anthem as a way of focus?"

"Put newspapers in your shoes?"

"Pass out from asthma?"

"Why would he get detention for having asthma, idiot?" laughed Sam

"Shut up, I woke up ten minutes ago" shushed Bucky

"Okay, no, all good guesses, but no" interrupted an irritated Peter, knowing that if he didn't, the two would start bickering like a married couple

"For the sake of our sanity, onesie, just tell us what you did, then Cora and Natasha will yell 'you are grounded', and we'll carry on with our day" chipped Clint, who was regretting leaving his nest for some food

"Sorry" he muttered, "I punched a kid in the nose, and, well, broke it" he admitted after an eternal thirty seconds

"What does that have to do with Steve?" questioned Clint, stopping the rest from scolding Peter

"He was a bully" he shrugged

"Pete, I know it's upsetting, but you're too strong, you can't punch them because they laugh at you, it's the same as if Steve went back and punched every bully now that he has super strength, it wouldn't be a fair fight" tried reasoning Bruce

"No, I know, I don't care if they bully me, but he was picking on Ned, he shoved him against the lockers, he was about to punch him- I... he's family, when I had no one, I had him" he said, stuttering over his words, "I'm not sorry" he added putting his head down at the end, probably waiting to be chastised or something

That never came, instead he was met by a bone crushing hug from both Cora and Bucky, plus an almost proud smile from Steve, who had put down his sketchbook

"Please don't make it a regular thing, you're still stronger than the other kids, next time think, defend, don't attack, then call someone, teacher, principal, any of us, someone" pleaded Cora while still holding Peter against her

"Wait, I get the school part, but why would you say you'd quit the avengers?" questioned Pietro after the heart warming embrace broke off

"Oh, you won't believe what they put during detention" he huffed, before standing up straight and opening his mouth again "So... you got detention. You screwed up. You know what you did was wrong. The question is, how are you gonna make things right? Maybe you were trying to be cool. But take it from a guy who's been fro-"

"Okay! Who wants ice-cream, Brooklyn, you look like you want some ice-cream" jumped Steve, taking Parker by the arm and pushing him frantically out of the room with him, leaving the bunch of heroes very confused

After a minute of silent pondering, a light bulb seemed to have turned on in Natasha's head "Oh my god!" she ran towards Clint to whisper something in his ear, whose eyes twinkled with realization not a second later

"Holy shit, you're right" he now rushed towards Cora and did the same, having to interrupt himself as he couldn't stop his giggles from arising

"No way!" she laughed hysterically, walking away from her spot besides Loki and towards Tony, again, to whisper, which was starting to anger the rest of the heroes

"This better be true, my dear Shield agents, i'm getting very excited over here" he billionaire mused, opening a holographic tab to start rummaging through Shield files "Friday, search files on the Captain's school protocol"

In the big TV screen the video of a Steve Rogers in his suit and helmet started playing, repeating the same words a few minutes before, Peter had been reciting

"NO!" comes the ear shattering scream of the captain when he sees all of them around the screen watching the videos he wanted buried six feet under. Behind him came in a snickering Peter with an ice cream cone, which Steve had apparently given him in exchange of his silence

"I got ice cream and Steve still got exposed, my day just got so incredibly better" mused Peter, making them all laugh as well

- - -

"For the millionth time, I'm not going"

"But, Cora!" whined Thor

"No, goldilocks, I have a previous compromise" she sang, booping his nose before getting back to her recipe, "Plus, I'm sure there'll be plenty of other opportunities for me to go to your pretty realm" she said, again, for the millionth time

"That's the whole point, there won't" stressed the god of thunder, falling ungraciously on his stool, watching Cora cook

"Oh, too bad then" she shrugged cheerily, not falling for the man-child's pout

"Loki won't be happy" sang the blonde prince in a last stupid resort to get her to attend the Asgardian ball for his sister, the ball that wouldn't even be happening if it weren't for Cora demanding one

"Well, that's a pity then" she smiled briefly, until the words sunk in her head, "Also, why in Hel would I take into account what Loki would think when making any of my personal decisions? We're not together, and even if, I would not have to feel forced to do or not do shit just 'cause he may not like it" she huffed pointing at him with the carbonara stained, wooden spoon

"My apologies, truly, lolite" he pleaded sincerely putting his arms up, "put down the spoon now, please?" he grimaced, she nodded and wordlessly went back to humming a made-up tune while she made her way around the kitchen, going to move the boiling water into another stove

"He likes you" he says, after a couple of moments passed in silence, fidgeting with an empty pop tart wrapper. The sudden comment startled her and made her spill the pot of boiling water on her right hand

"Motherfuck-" she screeched, jumping around in a mad attempt to get rid of the pain, "Why" jump, "Would" jump, "You" jump, "Do" jump, "That" jump, jump, jump

"I'm so sorry, lolite!" he says getting up and scrambling to hand her a cold towel

"What's with all the yelling- What did you do to her, you oaf?" jumped the god of mischief the second he walks into the kitchen, running to Cora's side, inspecting the furious red burn

Cora's unharmed hand had glitches of her lilac magic, each spark dying out the second they were formed, she was getting more desperate with every flicker of magic that stubbornly faded out the harder she tried

After catching sight of that, Loki was quick on using his own magic, aiming to heal the woman.

At the beginning her power rejected his, yet it wasn't long before Cora's magic recognized the God's benevolent intentions, and allowed him to help her

"How did you do that? You shouldn't be able to do that, my barrier must not be working" panicked the magical woman, fearing that her powers were malfunctioning, therefore putting her in danger

"Darling, breathe" eased Loki, subtly putting himself in between her and his brother, who was still a worried mess, and grabbing the alarmed woman's chin, making her fix her eyes on him

"It's okay, hey, listen to me", he tried to look around for something that would help him, he ended up setting his eyes on his brother, he had absolutely forgotten Thor was there, and he didn't miss the soft look in his eyes, the recognition in his eyes, Loki felt exposed, but she was more important

"You're fine, your powers are working just fine, they recognized that i was solely trying to help you, magic is impressively intuitive, dove" he hummed, using more of his magic to calm Cora's unstable breathing, this time not a single ounce of struggle came from the woman's powers, but it didn't really help the nervous mess she was in that moment

"B-but it makes no sense, I'm- this has never happened before, my magic is mine, it should be my magic that helped me, and it shouldn't let others' even get close to me" she rambled frantically, rocking herself, which made her resemble a frightened child

"It's absolutely normal, I assure you" and at the confused look on the woman, he turned to his bystanding brother, "Thor, please go to Wanda, ask her to come here with the book I told her to read after yesterday's lesson" he said, going back to try and calm down Cora the second the god of thunder scurried to do what his brother had told him to

"What if it's always been like this? What if I've always been faulty?" she kept worrying, practically ignoring the words of assurance the raven haired god offered her

"It's not fault-" but he couldn't even finish before she started again

"And, oh god, I must've been teaching Lenora incorrectly all this time! What if something happens to her and her magic fails her and she suffers for it, it will have been my fault, again" and the spiraling kept going on and on for eternal five minutes, which was when the Maximoff redhead showed up, book in hand

"Is everything okay..." she trailed off as she saw the two master magicians on the floor, one completely slouched and the other crouched, trying to comfort the former

"Wanda, please open up the book on page 328 and read the third paragraph" he asked, looking at her for less than a second before he turned back to Cora, who was intently staring up at a point in the ceiling, her tears left a dark trail thanks to her mascara, and her mouth was kept slightly opened for her sobs to rock through her freely

"Uhm, yes, of course" she said, clearing her throat and beginning her reciting.

"As we've established in previous chapters, since the beginning of time, magic is an intuitive force, with that in mind, depending on its strength, it can think for itself when its host cannot. When the host's mind is too clouded to command their magic, for whatever reason that may be, other magical beings can be of help. The standard magical barrier one has, can be lifted intuitively by the very own power, if it deems that the trespassing energy is benevolent. This can be often seen in groups of sorcerers, where there's a prior strong bond of confidence. Many ancient sorcerers were known to believe that it was also the magic's way of accepting a partner, by letting them heal their host, therefore-'"

"Uhm, yeah, thanks witchling, could you go and tell Thor that everything is well?" the flustered god requested, interrupting the young woman's reading, and upon seeing his crimson cheeks and Cora's wide eyes she nodded and left without another word

"We're not a group of sorcerers with a prior strong bond of confidence" mumbled Cora, in a hardly audible mumble

"Well, no, but, you see, it's not that, uhm-" he stuttered out, his silver tongue betraying him, and not for the first time since he had met her. Luckily, the woman in question, cut him off

"Loki, we're not a group of sorcerers with a prior strong bond of confidence" she repeated, barely louder this time "We're sorcerers, I guess, but not part of a group of sorcerers" she sighed, her face unreadable, which made the god's task of coming up with an appropriate answer that much more difficult

"You were" he said after a second, "what i mean is, you were a part of a group, and not any group, you were with the sorcerer supreme and all that, your magic must have grown used to letting others' in" though his words were spoken in the form of a statement, they came out as more of a hopeful question

"Have you not listened to my whole freak-out?" she exclaimed perplexed, "it has never happened, never in my life... if i got hurt and someone tried to help, it never worked, my magic would repel theirs" she continued, getting up and brushing herself off

As she did so, she caught sight of her hand, no longer on its way to becoming a second degree burn. It honestly looked as if nothing had happened, only evidence of the incident was the cooking pot in the floor around a puddle of now cold water, and the conversation the pair were currently having

"Hey, don't start insinuating things, it's not my fault your magic's in love with me or something" spat the prince, sensing the sudden change of air in the kitchen

"I'm the one insinuating? Me? Question, buddy, who the hell was the one requesting that specific paragraph read? Because it sure as hell wasn't me" Cora huffed, catching herself aggressively filling the pot of water again, but not being in the right state of mind to care

"You were the one freaking out! What was I supposed to do? Heal you then just let you go insane?!" he scoffed, standing dangerously close behind the woman, who harshly dropped the recipient in her hands into the sink and turned to face him

"You weren't supposed to do anything!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air, "I've gone through the worst of the worst, none of that killed me, so you can be damn sure that a splash of hot water won't either" she stated, just as brutally, her finger purposefully smashing against his chest with every statement

"I helped you!" he was full on screaming now

"Good, didn't ask you to" she spat right back

"True" he agreed, with a low and degrading chuckle, "because heavens forbid Cora Francis ever slightly ends up leaning on someone for help, that she ever finds herself in a situation where she has to vocalize a want or need for help, she's just so independent" he mocked, his jaw tightened, his hands clenched, "Who needs support? Not Coralina Francis, that's for sure" it felt like poison dripping from his every word

"Yes, exactly" she said, mimicking his agreeing and faux calm, "and it's not something I'm embarrassed of, I can love, trust me, I can be the most loving, giving and protective being in this whole fucking circus, but need? I don't need anyone, especially not someone like you" she said hushedly, as if it were the most important thing she could ever say

And right now it was, at least the young Cora that lived in the bottom of her heart, who everyone doubted could survive out there in the big bad universe, thought it was

"Someone like me? Wow, Coralina, very big of you, tell me, what exactly do you mean by 'someone like me'? A frost giant? A conniving god of mischief? A friend? A toy to play around with until you are simply bored?" he stopped, chests almost touching, his breath quickened by rage just to be answered by a stone cold stare

"Tell me!" he yelled, and practically slammed his fist against the counter right next to the woman, earning a minimal flinch from her, one that was noticed by both, but commented by neither. Nevertheless, he did take a step back, withdrawing himself from the position they were in, the faint voice of his consciousness acting on its own for a second

She completely ignored his silent move towards cooling off, as she stepped forward until she wasn't the one trapped between flesh and cooking facilities this time

"You know nothing about me, Loki Friggason, stop pretending you do" she spat one last time, vulnerable as a rose and venomous as its thorns

She pushed him towards the door of the kitchen and made her way back to the stove, silently wiping a rebel tear that got away, not expecting to be halted by a hand grabbing hers

He turned her around, making her face him, then with his free hand he cupped her cheek, he got instantly lost in her eyes, and he couldn't, wouldn't, escape from her

Those eyes, those brilliant and furious eyes, that watched him apprehensively, that were alert, waiting for his next move, his eyes flickered to her lips, they looked dry, I could change that, he allowed himself to think

Neither of them moved

"If you really don't want me to, I won't do it again, but I'm not going to apologize for not letting you torture yourself when i knew i could stop it, you can't expect me to see you in pain and just leave you alone to handle it, because even if there's not much you can trust coming from the god of lies, you can trust that I care about you, and that means that i know you can do whatever you have or want to do, but that isn't reason enough for me to let you do it on your own" he said at last, his now softened eyes studying hers like a mathematician would the most complex equation

She finally let the mask fall, and covered a sniff with a gentle smile. She leaned into his hand still holding her face, pretty much nuzzling into it, then pulled away, the grin not only still there, but also growing by the second, Loki didn't need to look into a mirror to know the same smile lied on his face

"Would you help me finish dinner, my prince?" she asked lightly

"I couldn't possibly imagine saying no, dove" he hummed, moving his hand away just to poke her side as they walked over to the messy counters

- - -

They were almost done, pasta had been cooked and strained, the two sauces were finished, and it had all been done with only speaking when they got in each other's way, saying 'sorry', 'excuse me' or 'thanks'. They both liked it that way, it was harmonious, it let them remember how comfortable they were with one another's presence, and that was just what they needed

"I'm not going to Asgard" she mentioned softly, not moving her eyes from the knife, which she was over-drying, to look at Loki, who absentmindedly kept passing her the dishes he had finished cleaning

"I know" he acknowledged, throwing her off with the lack of attitude on his voice

"Oh"

"Oh indeed" he smirked, her cheeks reddening at his playfulness

"Are you going to ask?" she hesitated, a pit forming on her stomach, one that, lately, seemed to appear more and more any time she had to actively lie to him in order to keep her secrets, how cruel

"Nope" he chuckled, instantly soothing the woman's worry, she did have to stop always assuming he only cared about figuring her out, especially when her expectations were so high and how little she felt she gave in return, but anyone would be lying if they said they could blame her for it, even if he wasn't like that, her mind would always go the darkest outcomes

"We should have dinner, before your trip" she stated with conviction, nodding to herself to not chicken out

"Well, that's what we're about to do, you go call the team, I'll set up the table" he offered kindly. The implications of Cora's previous comment going miles over his head

She just sighed and nodded.

Maybe he did understand and he just wasn't interested, maybe he did understand but thought she was joking, maybe she should stop asking herself questions when her answers were feet away from her

And so she stopped herself from leaving, turned on her heels and spoke again

"I meant us" she mumbled loud enough for him to stop searching for the cups and face her

"Darling?" he probed, tilting his head quizzically

"There's a gorgeous restaurant, very old, very fancy, over in 43rd street. Strange took Tony there the other night, apparently they have a tiramisú to die for" she commented elusively, biting the insides of her cheeks nervously

"Sounds good" he gulped, flustered. She was purely trying to get a reaction out of him, he had to repeat to himself, just Cora playing their little game

"It does" hummed the woman, "but I'd like to judge that for myself" she grinned playfully, trying to hide the torture it was waiting for him to get it

"Cora, I-"

"Are you free tomorrow night?" she questioned expectantly, all her fear concealed by that smug smirk that the prince never wanted to see die down

"This is not funny" he answered when he finally got his voice back from the shock

"It isn't supposed to be" she retorted, kicking imaginary pebbles with her feet, "Please" and if her words weren't reliable enough, the look on her eyes surely showed the fear behind her proposal, or better said, the possible rejection that could come of it

He stared at her for a minute, scanned her eyes, triple-checking she wasn't just playing with him, and then, when he'd decided he' be none the wiser if she was lying to him, he decided to just admire her for a second

"Eight o'clock?" he asked with the beginning of the biggest smile he was capable of, an instant sigh of relief letting the woman's lips

"I'll pick you up, mischief" throwing him a wink as she left the kitchen, swaying her hips just a bit more than usual, knowing he was watching her

- - -