Loki Laufeyson – Poor Planning
Loki Laufeyson – Poor Planning
A wave of anxiety washed over me. I wanted to ask Amelie about last night but I couldn't bring myself to do it in front of Bucky. Instead, I decided to wait for an opportunity when we would be alone. I grabbed my tea, politely mumbled an excuse, and picked up my kindle before wandering onto the balcony. The sun was now fully above the horizon, casting its warm rays across the sky.
I chose a comfortable spot on one of the chairs and closed my eyes, letting the warmth of the sun bathe me in peace. Before long, soft footsteps disturbed the silence and I opened my eyes to see Amelie standing there. She had her hands tucked into her pockets, a small smile playing at her lips. “Hey,” she said softly. “Mind if I join you?”
Shaking my head, I gestured for her to take a seat beside me. We both sat back in our chairs and watched as the sun continued its ascent higher into the sky. It was silent for a few moments before she spoke again. “So what happened last night? Are you okay?” Her voice was soft and hesitant.
"You must have been very confused when you woke up this morning." I said light-heartedly, and Amelie grinned in response. "I apologise if it caused you any distress; you fell asleep in the lounge."
Amelie's forehead creased. "I did? Well I blame Thor, that movie he chose was rubbish."
I laughed. "True."
Her expression shifted to confusion as she furrowed her brows. "How did I get in your room?"
It was a fair question, but I grimaced. "I uh, I carried you. I didn't want to disturb you, but you asked me to take you to your room." Amelie's eyes widened in surprise but she said nothing, so I carried on. "Your door was locked, I didn't want to call anyone and I was sure Stark wouldn't approve of whatever I suggested. So I put you in my room."
Amelie nodded slowly, taking a few moments to process what I said, and I found myself involuntarily holding my breath.
"Was I heavy?"
Whatever I'd been expecting her to say, that certainly hadn't been it and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. I shook my head, barely managing to contain the laughter that was bubbling up from inside of me. “No, not at all. We Gods are quite strong.” I said.
Amelie chuckled. "That suggests I am heavy, but that you're so strong it doesn't matter!"
Panicking, I spun towards her to apologise but Amelie's face held no unease. I let out another laugh. "No, you weren't heavy, just...sleepy."
Amelie smiled and nodded. "Thank you for taking care of me." She patted my arm affectionately and we sat there in silence for a moment.
Without turning to face me, she spoke again. “My room has a biometric scanner; the door opens with my fingerprint.”
I blinked. What an idiot. Of course her room would have something like that, some high-tech locking mechanism Stark created to ensure his niece’s privacy. I felt incredibly foolish for not thinking of it last night, but then it had been incredibly difficult to think of anything but the feeling of Amelie asleep in my embrace.
I glanced up to find her gaze fixed on me, her expression indecipherable, and I hastily sat up straighter in my chair, offering a polite smile. “That… hadn’t occurred to me.”
Amelie laughed softly. “It was Tony’s idea. He’s always losing his keys so he installed it on his room, thought it’d be good for me to have. You know, I can add people onto to the system so that they can get in too.”
Before I could process the direction of her thoughts, Stark appeared at the door. His shirt was rumpled and he wore sunglasses that covered half his face. Amelie seemed to jolt, uttering his name in surprise.
“No time kid, press conference. All of us. Everyone. Get ready.” Stark was leant against the doorframe, a strong smell of whiskey wafting through the air. What time did he get back?
Amelie dropped her head to her hands and groaned. “Please tell me you’re joking. Did you seriously forget another conference? How big is it?”
Ms. Romanov appeared behind Tony and tried to push him aside, thumping him with a clipboard in one hand while she juggled a huge stack of identity cards in the other; enough for at least 80 people.
Spotting the cards, Amelie went stiff. “No.” She sounded ready to whack Tony herself. “No. You did not arrange a national briefing and not tell me… Again! Even you can not be that useless!” Her uncle winced, clearly hung-over, but Amelie continued. “And why do you reek of alcohol? I thought you were out for a meal with Pepper?!”
“I was. Then I was out with Happy. Then Thor and Bruce. Then just Thor.”
Amelie groaned again, her body slumping in the chair while Natasha busied herself with moving Stark back into the tower. “Go. Shower. They’re already setting up.”
Tony held his hands up in surrender before shuffling off. “I’m going, I’m going!”
Amelie stood from her chair and tipped her head back to the sky. I’d never been part of a press conference before, but I’d seen enough of them to know that they looked painful and took weeks of planning. “Can I help?” I offered lamely.
She turned towards me with a weary sigh and spoke in a half-hearted tone: “Nah. If I were you, I would take this opportunity to escape while you still can. He didn’t say anything about you having to be dragged along.”
Ms Romanov appeared on the balcony again. “Nope, everyone’s needed. There are a lot of people who aren’t happy with Loki being here, it’s highly likely there’ll be some questions about you.”
Icy dread washed over me as I processed her words. My stomach tightened and my heart hammered against my ribcage. Was I really expected to make a public appearance and answer questions? Would I have to mention the mind stone? Talk about why Thanos targeted me in the first place? That would ultimately lead to questions about Jotunheim. Just thinking about it made me want to curl up into a ball and disappear.
I had done the unthinkable. I was stained with blood and reeking of sin, a criminal of unspeakable acts. My regret was palpable and my guilt was boundless, but the fear of standing before a court of roaring Midgardians, seeking retribution, could not be allowed to come to fruition.
Beg for forgiveness? Cringe in humility? Despite my overwhelming remorse, I just couldn't bear to display such distress before an audience of mere mortals. It was a pride shot through with awe and dread. An awe that was never mastered, a dread that was never quite humbled; a terrible commingling of emotions.
I kept my composure, my physical self calm and composed but my mental state thrown off balance by the ridiculousness of the idea. No, these people would not see me crumble before them.
I was a God after all.
As my mind stilled, I watched Ms. Romanov and Amelie continue to talk. To my surprise, Amelie had leapt to my defence.
“We can not expect him to go straight into his first ever press-event without any preparation. That’s entirely unfair Nat, it’s not his fault Tony wouldn’t be able to organise a piss up in a brewery!”
I swallowed my laugh and noticed the corner of Natasha's lips quirk upwards in response to Amelie's statement. "All true." she conceded. “We can answer for Loki, but he needs to be there.”
Amelie sighed, looking like she wanted to argue but knew it would be futile. She threw me a sympathetic look and I gave her a fake smile.
“Our audience awaits.”