Your Favourite Boy

Morning on Asgard was golden like nothing else was. Gold on Earth was to gold on Asgard as aluminium foil is to silver. Its mellow beauty awoke you, like being gently caressed awake by light alone. Carefully opening your eyes, you moved to stretch, suddenly freezing as another body next to you gently stirred. Right. Loki. Well, now you were wide awake.

“What in Odin’s name…” Loki said, voice trailing off as he propped himself up with one arm, looking down at you as he swept his hair out of his face. “Where am I?”

“You’re in my guest chambers because you were too drunk to tell me where your room was last night.”

“Right.” Loki said, squinting as he tried to remember. “And why am I essentially naked?”

“That’s a funny story!” You said with a mock cheerful tone. “See, you threw up on your shirt, and then insisted you couldn’t sleep with your pants on.”

“Ah.”

“You also made me recite poetry to you, and then I acted like your teddy bear for the night. So you’re welcome.”

Loki stared at you, blinking sleepily. “Why didn’t you just make me sleep on the floor or something? Why go through all the effort?”

“Because you’re my friend and I’m a nice person.”

Cue the blank stare. “Okay then.”

You sighed. “Okay, I’m going to go have a shower. You probably want to do the same, you smell like about a hundred different alcohols.”

By the time you came back, Loki was sitting in your bed, picking through a breakfast tray. His hair was wet, indicating he’d gone off and showered before returning.

“Oh right, you’re a prince, they bring you breakfast in bed,” you said, sitting down next to him and grabbing a slice of toast with some sort of spread you didn’t recognize on it.

“That they do,” Loki said with a smile, pouring two cups of tea from a tiny little teapot, passing one to you. “Did you sleep well, at least?”

“Yes,” you replied honestly, taking a sip. “You?”

“Quite well, and I suppose I have you to thank for that.”

“You have me to thank for a lot of things.” You eyed his drying hair. “Are you just going to leave it unbrushed?”

“I usually do, unless I dry it with magic. Why?”

You groaned, grabbing your hairbrush and moving behind him, rising up on your knees to reach the crown of his head. “You know, I worked as a hairdresser for a bit.”

“So I heard.”

“Yeah, so you’re killing me.” You brushed his hair out, braiding a few strands before pulling his hair into a half-up, half-down hairstyle, twisting the top half into a loose bun. To finish it off, you leaned in front of his face, tugging a few strands loose to frame his face. “Sexy,” you declared, settling back down beside him.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with you,” he said and you giggled.

“That’s what makes me fun.” Sliding your hands into the sleeves of your cable knit sweater, you wrapped them around your teacup again, lifting it to your mouth.

Loki touched the hairstyle gently, probably doing his best to imagine what it actually looked like. It was definitely a different look for him, but it wasn’t a bad one. A nice change from his usual greasy hair.

“Are you happy here?” He asked out of nowhere, his bright blue eyes trained on you as you reached for a slice of fresh fruit.

“What?” You paused with the fruit halfway to your mouth. “What kind of question is that?”

“You seem happier here than you do at Avengers Tower.”

You pondered his question. Sure, you felt happier, but it wasn’t solely because you were on Asgard. The question was whether or not you told Loki that.

“I am happier,” you said decidedly. “I’m happy to be here with you.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, apprehensive. “What does that mean?”

“It means whatever you think it means. You’re my best friend, and I’d like to think that perhaps I’m your favourite Avenger…?” you trailed off to let him confirm or deny the statement.

“You’re the least annoying Avenger.”

“That’s synonymous. I’m your favourite. And I like spending time with you.”

Loki sucked in his bottom lip, chewing on it while he thought about something. You could practically see his gears turning. “Come on, I want to show you something.” He got up.

You followed him through the palace and down to a vault of sorts. Loki nodded at the guards and they let him in, down some steps and into a triangular room. At the end of it sat a blue box of sorts, with black handles, on a pedestal.

“What’s that?” You asked when Loki seemed to be headed straight for it.

“The Casket of Ancient Winters,” he said, stopping just short of it. “Only to be wielded by a Frost Giant. It’s part of how I found out I was adopted.” He turned to face you, looking almost timid.

“You have shown me who you are. Now it is my turn.” He reached out, placing a hand on the box and, as you watched, the skin that touched it turned blue, gradually spreading up to his neck and over his face, changing him from the Loki you were used to seeing into a proper Frost Giant, complete with raised ridges that decorated his face. His eyes turned bright red, glowing ever so slightly.

Stunned momentarily, you examined him, a small smile playing at your lips. “Beautiful,” you said without a second thought, reaching your hand towards him.

“Don’t touch me, it’ll freeze you,” Loki said, his voice sounding suddenly panicked. “We’re extremely cold.”

“Something tells me it’ll be fine.” You touched the side of his face and, instead of instantly getting frostbite, his skin turned back to its usual pale complexion, quickly spreading down his body, despite the fact he was still touching the Casket. Your own fingers were glowing slightly, the same warm yellow-orange hue your eyes changed whenever you used your magic.

“What did you do?” He asked, letting go of the box and turning fully towards you, looking down at your hand as it dropped to your side.

“I didn’t do anything, not consciously anyways.” You looked him in the eye. “You were warm.”

“You’re weird,” he said, clenching his jaw. “It worries me that you do not know the extent of your powers.”

“Do you know the extent of yours?”

“No, but mine are not nearly as…pressing as yours.”

You rubbed your hand, watching as the glow faded, seeming to run back into your veins. “I’m not on the brink of destroying the world or anything. Yet.”

“So you’re fine with me being a Frost Giant?” Loki shoved his hands into pockets you hadn’t been aware existed on his princely finery.

“Loki, I was made by an apparently sentient rock on an alien planet and I have death powers and I’m a ghost like ten percent of the time. You being a Frost Giant is really not a big deal.”

“Frost Giants are monsters.”

“And ghosts aren’t? Trust me, I like you just the way you are.” You reached for his hand, clasping it between yours, looking up at him with sincerity. He’d accepted you; there was no way you’d reject him. As you gazed into his eyes, Loki leaned down to you, pondering something, before his gaze dropped to your lips. Almost subconsciously, you stood up straighter, slowly coming up to meet him.

“Loki?” Just then, Loki’s mother entered the vault, holding her skirt up slightly as she walked down the stairs. “Thor is looking for you.”

Loki sighed, moving away from you. Your heart twinged at the loss, although you pretended not to notice it. “Thank you, mother. This will probably take awhile,” he added to you as he headed out of the vault, leaving you and the Queen of Asgard alone together.

“Y/n,” Frigga said, giving you a beaming smile much akin to the one Thor regularly sported. “Walk with me, if you will. I believe we have a lot to talk about.”

The two of you wound up in a garden you hadn’t been aware existed, wading through the light blanket of snow. Frigga had a gentle quality about her, like you could tell her anything, yet she had the same mischievous glint in her eye as Loki. You liked her instantly.

“Loki spoke about you at great length yesterday,” she told you casually, pausing to inspect some sort of winter blossom on a bush.

“We recently became friends,” you said, attempting to ignore the way your heart sped up. “He told me he explained who I was to you.”

“A daughter of the soul stone,” Frigga said. “And you grew up all alone?”

“I begun life like this.” You fiddled with your hands. “I was never a child, and I don’t think I’ll ever grow old. But yes, I wasn’t aware there was anyone else in the universe for the longest time. But I’ve had plenty of time to learn.”

“Loki mentioned that too. He told me you’d read a great deal. He was impressed.”

“That’s a first.” You laughed, kicking the snow in front of you.

“He said you seemed more alive than most.”

You stopped, looking at her. “What did he mean by that? I’m pretty much a ghost.”

“It means he thinks rather highly of you. He likes spending time with you.” Boy, didn’t those words sound familiar.

“I like spending time with him. He’s fun.” You felt yourself blush, but you weren’t entirely sure why. Your feelings for Loki were fast becoming a jumbled mess you couldn’t hope to sort out. You couldn’t help but feel as though the two of you had shared more than just a friendly moment back in the vault, but the truth was complicated, and you weren’t sure you wanted to go down that road.

“He said you’ll fight alongside him.”

“I’ll fight alongside both Loki and Thor.”

She smiled at you. “But who will you fight for?” Noting the confusion on your face, she explained further, “the one who fights for themselves will always lose to the one who fights for someone else.”

“Because someone who fights for themselves only wants to win; the other needs it,” you said, nodding in understanding.

“He’s never brought anyone home. He’s never even had any friends outside of Thor’s friends. You’re the first, y/n, the first friend, the first everything. He doesn’t act like this with anyone else.”

Swallowing, you fiddled with the hem of your sweater. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I want you to know that you’re something special to Loki. I presume he was showing you his Frost Giant form back in the vault?”

“Uh, yeah, he was. It was neat.”

Her expression softened at your words. “He has never shown that to me or Thor.”

“No offence, but I can understand why. I don’t really have much capacity for judgement, given where I come from. It would be beyond hypocritical for me to judge him for being a Frost Giant when he’s never been anything besides accepting of my…various issues.”

“I’d have to say it’s for reasons far more complex than that.” Something about Frigga’s tone was light and teasing yet heavy and deep at the same time. You couldn’t quite figure out her words, but before you could inquire, a projection of Loki appeared in front of you.

“Y/n, the Avengers have encountered a ‘situation’-” he made air quotes with his fingers “-and they are requesting our return at once. I hope you have your suit here.”

Reaching up, you pulled your suit out of thin air, your blades landing neatly on top of it and you gave Loki your best grin. “Always.”

Ten minutes later, you, Loki, and Thor were all suited up and standing in front of Heimdall. He turned his massive sword, filling the circular room with rainbow light, and a moment later the three of you were standing in front of Avengers Tower.

“Glad you guys are here!” Tony yelled, landing beside you, but you didn’t even look at him. Instead, you were staring up at the tower. It was in flames, the top floors already completely incinerated.

“What is going on?” Thor asked.

“There’s a lady running around, she seems to be part leopard or something, and she set fire to the tower. The others are across the country, so it was faster to call you guys with your whole magic tube of transportation. Y/n, if you can get hold of her, you think you can do your magic like…?” He drew a finger across his neck, making a cracking noise as he did so.

“If she lives, then she can die,” you said, flipping the blades you’d been holding onto their place on your back.

“I’ll scout from above and see if I can see her coming,” Thor said, spinning his hammer and lifting off the ground.

“We’re going to have to completely incinerate the tower so it doesn’t harm civilians as it falls,” Tony said, his suit’s blaster firing up. “I don’t know where she is, so I’ll get started on it.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a streak of yellow flew past you, a girl with long claws for fingers sinking said claws into Iron Man’s armour. He blasted her off and she flipped backwards, landing on her reinforced haunches.

“Anubis?” Tony said, nodding in her direction. You slid forwards along the ground, turning to mist as she attempted to swipe at you, dodging your attempts to make contact with any part of her. You saw knives materialize in Loki’s hands and he stepped forwards to engage with her, ready for the brutal fight.

Gradually, fog crept in—despite it being midday—swirling around you. You dropped into it, reappearing a few feet away from the girl in attempt to formulate a plan while Loki kept her busy. Pulling your swords off your back, you drifted back into the fog, popping up behind her, swiping at her back leg. The point of your katana made contact, blood dribbling out, and she hissed, managing to swipe one of Loki’s knives from him and kicking him in the stomach, sending him stumbling backwards.

She whipped around to you, slicing at you, her moves all offensive rather than defensive, and you had to focus on blocking her.

“Hey, aspirant cat!” Loki yelled, materializing behind her and jabbing his remaining knife into her shoulder blade. It was a stupid move, and everything seemed to slow down as she swung around to him, the knife she’d stolen from him poised perfectly to hit him in the gut. Loki’s eyes widened as he realized he wouldn’t be able to get out of the way in time, and they connected with yours.

You made no conscious decision, but the next millisecond you were there in front of him, taking the knife directly to your chest. In a flash of clarity as the knife point cracked through your breastplate and into your sternum, your hand shot out, palm slamming into her forehead and pushing it back so hard you saw the whites of her eyes.

“Die!” You yelled, and you saw a shockwave of orange light spread out from your feet, throwing Loki back. Avengers Tower exploded, but you weren’t sure if that was you or a combined effort from Thor and Tony. The girl’s breath reached your ears as she too was thrown backwards, and then everything went fuzzy.

Tony landed somewhere near you, Thor hot in pursuit, and Loki crawled over to you as you landed on the ground, his hair coming slightly undone from its up-do as he yelled your name.

“Heal yourself,” he begged, grabbing your hand and pressing it over your own wound, but you were unable to do anything more than stare at him imploringly as the ash fell around you and your fingers curled at the blossoming metal of your ruined breastplate. Tony tugged off your mask so you could breathe better, but it didn’t help much. “Y/n, please. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you. Please.”

“I need…more…e-energy,” you gurgled, feeling blood rise up into your airway. “Thor.”

Loki understood what you meant, backing away and looking at his brother. “Hit her with a lightning bolt,” he said.

“What?” Thor’s eyes widened, uncertain.

“Just do it!” Loki roared, face turning red, and Thor raised his hammer to the sky, calling on lightning before directing it to you.

You felt the electricity course through your body, making it flop against the pavement, but it wasn’t enough. Your fingers twitched feebly, and you could feel your strength leaving you much too fast. “More.”

“Hit her with everything you got,” Tony said to Thor, and Thor concentrated hard, letting out a guttural roar as a massive bolt of lightning streaked down from the heavens, striking the very depths of your soul, and everything around you went orange. Loki’s knife flew out of your chest, the blue electricity coursing down your body turning the same colour as your magic, the wound sealing together with a popping noise. Your mouth fell open in pain, screaming and writhing as the magic stitched you back together. The three men stood over you, watching with concerned expressions as you coughed up blood, tears running down your cheeks.

The whole healing process took about five minutes, five minutes of sheer agony to the point you thought it would just be easier to die. As soon as the magic subsided, you lay there, staring up at the sky and breathing heavily. Loki bent down, scooping you up.

“Is she dead?” You managed, your head lolling in a weakened attempt to find your opponent.

“I think you sent her straight to Hel,” Thor said earnestly, looking at the crumpled body a few metres away. “Who was she?”

“Probably another one of my enemies,” Tony said, far too casually for what had just transpired. “I’ll look into it.”

“What are we going to do now?” Loki looked at the space where the tower had once stood, cradling you against his chest.

“I’ll build a new facility,” Tony said slowly. “Upstate New York, I think, further away from the heart of the city. Honestly, I’d been expecting an attack like this for awhile.”

“We will return to Asgard,” Thor proclaimed. “Y/n needs to heal while you build this facility, and Asgard is the perfect place to do so.”

“I’m fine,” you protested, but slid your arms around Loki’s neck anyhow, not wanting him to put you down. Like he could read your mind, his grip around you tightened.

“We’re going back to Asgard,” he said, his voice scratchy from yelling earlier. “You’ll be safe there.”

Thor stepped closer to the two of you, raising his hammer to the sky, and the rainbow light engulfed you once more.

You must have passed out somewhere along the journey through the Bifrost, because the next thing you knew, Loki was tucking you into the bed in your guest room. The outer robes of your suit had been discarded along with the useless breastplate, leaving you in the sweater you’d worn under it.

“Sorry,” you whispered as he sat down at the edge of the bed, his forehead creased in worry as he looked down at you.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Loki said. “What were you thinking, jumping in front of the knife like that? I’m a god; I would’ve been fine.”

“It was an Asgardian knife, so I wasn’t sure,” you said, biting your lip. “And truthfully, I wasn’t thinking. I just didn’t want you to get hurt. It’s easier to heal myself, so…”

“Y/n, you almost died. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if my first…friend died.” He’d been about to say something else, but stopped himself.

“Loki.” You slid out from under the covers, crawling closer to him and taking his face in your hands. “I’m fine. And I’m sorry. And I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

“You’re an idiot,” he said, moving so he was fully sitting on the bed, his eyes never leaving yours.

“That’s why we get along,” you replied, barely daring to breathe as he leaned closer.

“Y/n?” He whispered.

“Loki?”

He tilted his head slightly, gaze dropping to your lips and then back to your eyes. “I’m going to do something very idiotic.”

“Do it,” you said. “We need to even the playing field.”

Pausing for a second, he grinned to himself, then leaned forwards completely, catching your mouth with his, his hands burying themselves in your hair as he pulled you into him.

It was like the planet stopped spinning entirely as his lips moved against yours, and your hands moved from his face to the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to you, wanting to erase every single atom between the two of you. Kissing Loki was like nothing you’d ever experienced, and like nothing you’d ever experience again. It was heaven on earth, the most tangible happiness, the only real thing.

You had to stop kissing him because you were smiling too hard, pulling back slightly. Loki’s eyes fluttered open and he scanned your face, worried he’d hurt you or made you upset, only to see you smiling.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his hand sliding out of your hair to caress your face.

“More than. I’m excellent and I want to do that again.” You ignored his laugh, kissing him once more just to make sure it was really as magical as it had seemed the first time. It was.

“I’ve wanted to do that since that day in the library,” Loki confessed when you released him, your fingers immediately travelling up to his hair to let it out of the now-tangled style.

“Why’d you wait so long?” You asked, pressing a kiss to his jawline, relishing the way it flexed under your touch before you slid behind him to properly undo the bun.

“I didn’t think you felt the same way. You were just trying to be my friend, and I didn’t want to ruin that prematurely.”

“So that’s what all the sexually charged dialogue was about,” you commented, smoothing his hair down now that it was free. Pulling him back so his head was lying in your lap, you pressed an upside-down kiss to his lips before lightly nipping his nose. He sighed happily, his eyes closing. “I’m so sorry that I’m so beautiful and alluring and you had to wait until I almost died to make your move.”  

You’d meant it as a joke, but his eyes flickered open as he hummed in agreement. “You are. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Come on, have you seen yourself as Lady Loki? You were so gorgeous it literally fried Tony Stark’s mind.”

“I’m not sexually attracted to myself,” Loki snorted. “However, your surprise did reveal a touch of your true feelings. It took massive amounts of self control for me not to kiss you in that storage closet, and when you pulled the sword on me. Your threats were quite…stimulating.”

You quirked an eyebrow. “Loki Laufeyson, you honest-to-god freak.”

“Y/n, you honest-to-god goddess,” Loki said, sitting up and turning around to attach his lips to yours in one fluid motion, pressing you back against the sheets. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders as he kissed you beyond comprehension. It was like someone had bottled up the sweetest nectar in the galaxy and turned it into a god. If you’d had any doubts about Loki’s divinity before, they were long gone now. All you could smell was him, that scent you loved so much, and all you could taste was him as he slid his tongue into your mouth. One of his hands slid down to your waist where he splayed his fingers out across your stomach, pressing you further into the mattress.

You tilted your head back after a few moments, attempting to get a breath of air. Loki didn’t hesitate, his lips travelling down your neck and across your collarbone, pulling down the neck of your sweater.

“I think you should take this sweater off,” he said slyly. “There’s blood on it.”

He was right. Your blood was on it, and there was a hole where the knife had stabbed you anyhow. Getting up with a groan, you pulled the sweater up and over your head, turning away from Loki and digging through your suitcase for a new shirt. You settled on a turtleneck, and Loki saw it your hands and got up.

“I don’t think so,” he said, wrapping his arms around your bare waist from behind, his lips latching onto your neck once again. “That’s just mean.”

“Loki,” you sing-songed as he slipped a finger under your bra strap. “Don’t get carried away.”

“Sorry, darling,” Loki said, and your stomach fluttered at the term of endearment. “Would you like to take it slow?”

You pulled your shirt on, smoothing it out as you turned back to him and slid your arms back around his neck. “I think we have enough time. No need to rush.”

“Very well,” Loki said. “Whenever you want me to lay you down and worship your body like the deity you are, let me know.”

“Loki!” You flushed at his words, burying your face in the crook of his neck. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“I’m sorry, are you uncomfortable with flattery?”

“I’ve never had anyone flatter me before,” you said, your whole body humming at the amount of physical contact he’d been offering you. It was like heaven on Asgard.

“And I’ve never had anyone to flatter. It appears we are in the same boat.”

“How am I even supposed to react to it?”

“You can flatter me in return,” Loki suggested, pressing a chaste kiss to the tip of your ear, “or you can do something else to show your appreciation.”

“Shut up,” you groaned, burying your face further against his neck. “Or I’ll bite you.”

You heard him suck in a breath sharply, his chest rising slightly faster, and you realized that might not have been the deterrent you’d intended it to be.

“How long must we ‘take it slow’ for?”

“Loki.” You stepped away from him, giving him a reprimanding look. “Behave yourself.”

“I have redeemed myself from damnation in the eyes of the Avengers and still I have never been asked to preform such a Herculean task.” His eyes glittered at you with promise of mischief to come.

“How about we check out that library you were talking about?” You patted his chest, walking towards the door. He caught your wrist nimbly, pulling you back.

“No way. You should rest after your near-death experience.”

“Come on. I healed myself, I’m good to go.”

“Magic takes effort. And a lot of magic takes a lot of effort.” Loki looked down at you like you were the most precious thing in the universe; like he would stop at nothing to keep you safe. I can’t lose you. His words from before echoed in your head. And so you let him lay you back in bed, smiling up at him as he kissed your forehead.

Something told you Loki was a dangerous lover. There would be no passivity about it. His love would be all or nothing, and you truly believed he would end entire worlds for you. But by god, if you didn’t love danger.