"Oooh Mr. President....I got some of those elven sweet rolls you like!"
Doctor Stephen Strange entered the dwelling he shared with his lover, expecting to find the former presidential candidate lingering just nearby. However, he was met with nothing more than empty silence echoing off the walls.
"Prez? Are you here? Loki?"
He headed upstairs to see if he could find Loki there. When he entered their bedroom, a sniffling noise could be heard from inside the closet. He opened the door to see Loki, huddled in the corner, sobbing profusely.
"Hey what's wrong? Why are you hiding in the closet?"
"I....I started my cycle,D, which means that once again I'm a failure!"
"Oh honey, it's not that bad," Stephen said as he sat down in the closet with Loki and wrapped his arms (and tentacles) around him,"we can keep trying."
"We've been trying for over two years now, and I still can't get pregnant! There must be something wrong with me."
"There's nothing wrong with you, Lo, you're perfect....me on the other hand, not so much."
"Preposterous!"
"I'm serious Prez,our problem could be with me," he said as he looked down at the floor," I absorbed a lot of demons in trying to change my timeline, they could be making it impossible for us to conceive.....maybe you should have kids with someone else."
Loki grabbed his face and turned it so they were facing each other.
"I didn't spend centuries in the Void with you just to run off now. I may not have been your first love, Stephen Strange, but I intend to be your last. There's no one else I'd rather build a family with than you,elskaður."
"You're such a Sap."
"Yes but I'm all yours."
"Thanks for the warning, now let's get out of this closet already," Stephen whined as he stretched his various limbs," my tentacles are starting to get cramps."
Come to bed and I'll massage those out for you."
"That's the best plan I've heard all day."
*************
That night, Strange laid awake watching Loki, who was sound asleep on top of him. He remembered the first time they met, hundreds of years ago. After losing Christine, along with his entire universe, he didn't think he'd ever find a purpose again.He decided to banish himself to the void, where he would wonder the rest of eternity alone.
Except, he wasn't alone.
He'd been traveling through the abyss for several days when he came across a man leaned against an old rusty helicopter. He was tired and bleeding from where something had bit his hand off, but that didn't stop him from saying something sarcastic that had Stephen laughing for the first time in ages.
The dark Sorcerer restored the missing limb, and found out the other man's name was Loki, and he also had magic, but it was rather limited at the moment because all the spells he attempted in the place tended to go haywire. He offered to teach him a workaround to that problem in exchange for information about how the mage had gotten there.
That's how Stephen learned about the TVA, and their 'pruning' of things that didn't fit their version of the so-called sacred timeline.
How those idiots had managed to contain the multiverse for so long was beyond him.
Whatever they were doing, it was the reason so many Lokis wound up in the Void. Stephen started calling his Loki 'Prez' to tease him about almost winning a human presidential election. In turn, he called him D because, as he put it, "Remembering all the titles you go by is exhausting."
It took awhile, but eventually D opened up to Prez about Christine. He didn’t ridicule or judge...he understood all too well the lengths one would go to for someone they loved. Even now, in their life together, Loki honors her memory by keeping a photograph of her on the mantle next to a small statue of his mother.
It was this compassion and understanding that turned Loki from his friend and occasional lover, to someone he couldn't live without....and while he couldn't claim to have the same level of yearning for kids as his boyfriend, the desire to obtain the happy life they both had been denied was palpable.
But if he didn't solve the issue of their infertility soon, that desire would never be realized. Loki had already been through so much....Stephen didn't want to see him get hurt again.
He refused to let that happen.
Moving slowly so as not to disturb his lover, he climbed out of bed, watching for a few moments as Prez mumbled his name and resettled. Once he was sure the mage was still sound asleep, he got dressed and opened a portal to the outside.
************
The Dark Sanctum(or D's gloom and doom library according to Loki) was located on the other side of Alfhëim in a remote forest. Stephen thought it best to keep his more arcane practices away from their new neighbors....and he wanted to ensure that if something went wrong it wouldn't blow their house up.
He searched through scores of texts and spellbooks, looking for a solution to their predicament. Finally, he came across a passage in an ancient, leather-bound tome that could possibly be what he needed.
"Pazuzu....ancient Babylonian demon God over pregnant women and children....doesn't match the situation exactly but should be close enough..."
He drew the necessary runes on the floor and sat down in the middle of them. With his powers focused, Stephen began muttering the incantation to summon the demon. The symbols began lighting up one by one, and a portal opened up....allowing a large, winged creature to step through.
"Pazuzu I assume?"
"For what purpose have you summoned me mortal?"
"First off, I'm not mortal...at least not anymore. As for my purpose....."
He waved his hands and the demon shrieked as it was pulled forward and absorbed into his body.
"My purpose was pretty much that. Now to go home and....."
Just as D opened the portal, an extreme wave of dizziness overtook him. He thought he might have heard someone calling his name, but the muffled sound was too much to discern as he sank to his knees and let the darkness take over.
************
When Stephen regained consciousness, he saw that he was in his bed at home with an extremely anxious Loki hovering over him.
"Ugh, how long was I out?"
"Three days! What the hell were you thinking Stephen?!"
"I was thinking..." He groaned as he sat up," that I'd find a way to stuff your ballot box and end up with a successful nine month election season."
"Oh D....what did you do?"
"Nothing I haven't done before....now come here, I'm feeling a rise in the polls."
"Honestly," Loki said as he climbed on top of him," are you ever going to get tired of making political puns?"
"Hmm...not likely, no."
"I was afraid of that."
D let out a snort before leaning up and pressing his lips to Loki's. Strong arms slid across the mage's thigh and around his waist, flipping him over so he was on the bottom. The rest of the night was a blur of tongues, teeth, and tentacles as Stephen showered his Góð with the utmost reverence and worship.
*************
Roughly a month later, Stephen was in the middle of an Astral projection mediation when something slammed into his physical body, causing his spirit to pull back.
"Ow....son of a—Prez, what are you doing, why did you knock me over?"
"We did it! We finally did it!"
"Did what? I didn't do anything.....this week."
Loki rolled his eyes before putting one of D's hands on his stomach.
"This you imbecile! We've finally managed to accomplish our goal!"
Stephen was confused for a moment and then he felt it.
A small spark of life, hidden deep within his lover's body.
"Oh my Vishanti.....you're pregnant?!"
"Yes D," Loki said with a smile despite the tears streaming down his face," we are going to have a child."
Although he would completely deny it later, Stephen let out a high pitched squeal as he grabbed Loki and spun him around the room.
"A baby! I can't believe we're actually going to get to be parents!"
"I could scarce believe it myself, until I did a check this morning to see why I had been feeling so awful lately."
"So THAT'S why you couldn't stomach my tuna melts!"
"Don't get me wrong, Darling, those things are still an abomination to culinary tastes everywhere," he said as Stephen sputtered indignantly," but lately they've smelled more horrendous than usual."
"Well then I promise for the next nine months or so I will not bring any form of tuna into this house."
"Just for nine months? Not permanently?"
"Don't push your luck, Prez."
*************
After several rounds of celebratory lovemaking, the pair headed into the city to meet with Alfhëim's healers. Although they weren't very familiar with Jötunn physiology(and had no idea what D's even was, other than that he was no longer human), they vowed to do their best to ensure the child entered the world safely.
If Stephen didn't know any better, he'd think the Elves were more invested in this pregnancy than they were.
He could still hear Pazuzu grumbling in the back of his mind, which was odd because most of the time any demons he absorbed lost their sentience. But he ignored it for now, instead focusing on the radiant smile that Loki had been sporting the entire day.
"D?"
"Hmm?
"Do you want a boy or a girl?"
"I'm not picky, as long as they're healthy. Although," he pondered as he scratched his chin in contemplation," we're going to have to cut a lot of holes out in the onesies regardless."
"Why would we need to do that?"
"For the tentacles of course!"
Stephen became alarmed at how quickly Loki's face became pale and was desperately looking over his whole body.
"What? What is it? What's wrong?!"
"It just occurred to me....this child might have several extra appendages....and I'm going to have to push that out of my..... "
He fainted before he could finish his sentence, being caught by D's cloak before he hit the floor. The Sorcerer let out a sigh before taking him out of the garment's grasp and into his arms.
"I have a feeling this is going to be a loooong pregnancy."
************
Stephen's prediction turned out to be a severe understatement.
As the months went by, Loki began exhibiting unusual behavior. He was irritable, which wasn't really out of the norm for the Goð, but he was far less calm and collected than usual.
Recently he snapped at Stephen in an unusual language. When asked what it was he said, the mage couldn't answer because his allspeak never translated it.
Something odd was happening to D as well. Despite going to bed with his lover every night, he would wake up in different parts of the house. One night Prez found him on top of the roof and had to use magic to get him down because he wouldn't wake up.
That demon he absorbed still wouldn't shut up either.
Every time he turned around, Pazuzu was mocking him, saying Stephen would never get to keep his family, that the demon would get out and take what was rightfully his.
There's no way that was going to happen.
He decided to do some research on demon separation. He was going to rid that obnoxious creature from his body once and for all...
Even if it killed him.
**************
After spending nearly the entire morning at the Dark Sanctum, Stephen decided to go home and check on his lover. Prez was due anytime now and it wouldn't be good for him to be alone for too long.
"Loki? Babe you in here?"
He didn't think there'd been any appointments with the healers today, but he hadn't exactly been in the most cognitive mindset lately.
He started to walk towards the kitchen, thinking Loki might be getting himself a snack, and happened to notice the staircase...
And the blood dripping from the steps.
"LOKI!!"
He raced to the upstairs bedroom, followed the trail of viscera to the closet, and ripped open the door to find Loki...
Perfectly fine.
Eating a bowl of raw meat?
"Uhm....Lo.....what are you doing?"
"Eating a light snack. The baby was craving a rare steak."
"Rare? Honey I'm pretty sure the cow that came off of is still mooing....it is beef isn't it?"
"I'm honestly not sure," Loki said as he turned towards the cloak that was hovering behind him in the wardrobe," do you recall what that thing we killed earlier was?"
Stephen raised a brow as it merely shrugged and muttered to himself about enabling fabrics.
“Darling, I hate to interrupt a good internal monologue,but could you help me off the floor?”
He sighed and held out a hand for the mage to grab. As soon as the mage was standing, a tentacle wrapped around his waist and pulled him close.
"D?"
"I'm really worried about you sweetheart."
"Because of Pazuzu?"
Stephen reared back in shock at the name.
"How did you know about him?"
"It talks while you're asleep," Loki said while trying to repress a shudder," normally I don't pay attention to some of your more questionable forays into the Dark Arts....but this one really frightens me."
"It scares me too.. but I'm working on a spell that should get him out of our lives for good."
"I hope so, cause this is definitely not my idea of a fun threesome."
D snorted before gently pressing his lips against Loki's.
"I love you, you know that?"
I do, and I feel the same way. Now, take me to bed and rig my election one more time before the child comes."
"Your wish is my command, Mr. President."
*******
A few days later, Stephen was back in the Sanctum researching when the demon reared its ugly head.
"You cannot win against me, Stephen Strange."
"We'll see about that, as soon as I put the finishing touches on this spell, you're going to be out of my head and out of our lives for good."
"Oh I'm getting out, but I won't be leaving this world alone."
Out of nowhere, a sharp burning sensation seared across Stephen's forehead. He sank to his knees screaming as he felt his body ripping apart from the inside.
A portal opened within his chest, and Pazuzu managed to crawl out of it. He dropped to the floor in a heap, and looked up to see that the demon was much bigger and stronger than when he'd absorbed it.
"You've been feeding off me this whole time, haven't you?"
"I needed a powerful vessel to use until I could be free of the constraints that mortals had placed on me centuries ago. Now I am able to wreak my vengeance, and as soon as I obtain what I came for, nothing will bind me again."
"What do you mean, ‘what you came for?’ What are you talking about?!"
"Did you actually think summoning me was your idea?" Pazuzu laughed maliciously," I arranged it all in order to create the perfect vessel to permanently inhabit."
Stephen's eyes widened as he realized what that meant...
Pazuzu wanted to take their baby.
"You'll have to kill me first."
"Gladly."
They launched at each other in a clash of claws and magic. D used the other demons in his body to attack the Beast, but he managed to deflect him at every turn. The cloak wrapped around its head while he tried to portal it to another dimension, but it managed to break free and knock the Sorcerer to the ground.
"Once I finish with you, I'll go and take my pri—"
Pazuzu froze in place....then he started freezing all over.
"What....is....this....Aaaahhh!"
Layers of ice thicker than Stephen had ever seen crawled up the demon's body until it fully encased him. Then a dagger flew through his head and shattered it, along with the rest of his body.
The dust cleared to reveal Loki standing in the doorway, blue tint fading out of his fingertips.
"Nobody.....kicks your ass....but me...Ack!"
"Loki!"
He raced over to catch the mage just as he collapsed in pain.
"Are you okay?!"
"No.....using my Jötnar abilities.....caused my water to break."
Oh fuck....
"Come on, let's get you up so I can portal you to the Elves and—"
"No time, D, this baby is coming NOW!"
Stephen helped him lean against the wall and get his pants off. Sure enough, amidst all the blood and fluid he could see a head starting to crown.
"Okay Prez, I need you to take a deep breath and push as hard as you can."
Loki nodded and started to bare down as hard as he could, screaming the entire time.
"Good that's good, you're almost there, keep pushing."
He bared down again, and Stephen was pretty sure if his tentacles had bones, he would have broken several of them.
"That's it! Keep going Lo! Few more pushes and we'll have our baby."
Loki let out a ear-piercing shreak as he gave one final push, followed by loud wails as the baby slid out into Stephen's hands.
He cradled the small girl to his chest, in awe of how beautiful she was.
"It's a girl....Jesus Prez we did it, we actually did it!"
When Loki didn't respond back he looked up to see the mage had passed out.
"Loki? You need to wake up now, our daughter's here.....Loki? Loki!"
He wasn't responding to Stephen's shouts and the Sorcerer noticed with horror that he was still bleeding....and it was way too much.
"Nononono....you're not dying on me, not now!"
He handed the baby over to the cloak, and started concentrating his powers on healing his lover. He poured wave after wave of power into him, but the blood kept flowing and the mage was getting paler by the second.
"Come on, come on, please start healing...please Loki, I can't lose you too...."
Just when all hope seemed lost, the bleeding finally stopped and Loki's natural healing abilities began to kick in. Stephen cried in relief as the mage took a deep breath and slowly cracked his eyes open.
"....D..."
"I'm here sweetheart, I'm here."
"Is the baby Ok?"
"She's perfect,Lo," Stephen said as he picked Loki up and opened a portal," Come on, it's time to get you two home."
**********
A few hours later, Loki was propped up in bed feeding their newborn while Stephen absentmindedly stroked her soft, dark hair. The eleven healers arrived quickly once summoned and they healed any remaining injuries on both parties after giving the baby a full checkup.
"She's gorgeous isn't she?"
"Definitely, too bad there weren't any tentacles though, I was hoping she'd inherit a little something from me."
No sooner than he'd spoken did six tiny appendages work their way out of her back.
"Nevermind, I stand corrected...So, what do we name her? I assume you want to go with something similar to your mom?"
"Partially, but the name I have in mind will be sentimental to the both of us."
"Oh yeah?" Stephen asked as the little girl grasped one of his fingers," what's that?"
"Frigga Christine."
"You...you mean it?"
"Of course I do, our girl should have a piece of her Godmother as well as her Grandmother."
The tears streaming down the Sorcerer's face were pure joy.
"Welcome to the world, Frigga Christine Strange, I promise that no matter what happens, you will be loved....in every universe."