I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Chapter 22: I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Loki was the first one to wake up.
He checked the sky through the small gap of the curtains: it was bluish-gray, with a few shades of white, telling him that it’s sunrise. The majority of his room was dim. Next to him was Stella, his lover, tucked under the sheets, curled up facing him, and snoring quietly. Her curly hair splayed on her pillow. It was quite a night for them. They couldn’t get their hands and lips off each other. His hand trailed on her bare back and she responded with her hand crossing his torso. He wrapped his arms around her as if someone would come and grab her from him.
It has been centuries since he felt content. It has been centuries since he wrapped his arms around someone. It has been centuries since he has someone in his bed, and that someone is someone he cared for so much. Someone he loved. He loves.
When he said yes to Athena, it was his way of saying goodbye to Asgard’s throne. He knew there was no chance he’d hold that again, that he didn’t have a chance against Thor, even though he was the most impulsive being he had encountered in his whole life. At one point the brothers talked about it, seriously talked about it, while they were out in Vanaheim.
“Are you sure about that, brother?” Thor asked Loki.
Loki ignored him, eyes fixed on the bonfire in front of them.
“I have to tell you this, I’m having apprehensions about it, too.”
“Is that a jest?” Loki turned to Thor, an incredulous look on his face. “You’re the firstborn Odinson. You were born for the throne,” he said bitterly.
“We can rule Asgard together.”
Loki returned to watch the flames. “It does not work that way.”
“I need you by my side, Loki.”
“Is this your way to stop me from helping Athena?”
Thor pulled his fleece blanket tighter when the cold breeze blew. “No. I’m not stopping you from doing what you want. I just want you back.”
“What if I’m not returning?”
Thor turned to him. Loki was unreadable: tight-lipped, but his eyes were sharp and dark. The blanket was over his head, making him look menacing as ever. Loki wrapped his cold hands around the steaming mug, oblivious of his older brother studying him. He was too deep in his thoughts to notice.
Loki’s contemplations were interrupted by Stella turning, sighing as she settled to face the other side of the room. She pulled the blanket to her when she turned, exposing him to the cold room. He could feel his eyelids getting heavier. He checked the outside and the sky was turning light orange. He thought it wouldn’t hurt to go back to sleep, anyway Natasha Romanoff scheduled the meeting at 1 PM today.
He slid his hand over her hips and settled on her stomach. He lightly brushed his lips on her shoulders then trailed kisses down to the crook of her neck. Stella sighed and slowly shifted.
Stella woke up when she felt a soft sensation on her neck. She knew Loki was up to something so she craned her neck, allowing him to go further. She placed her hand over his hand that was on her stomach.
Loki closed his eyes as he covered her neck with kisses. He felt her turn her body to face him but he was surprised when his lips bumped into hers. He opened his eyes and smiled. “Good morning, love.”
“Good morning.” She cupped his cheek and caressed it with her thumb. He kissed her again, attempting to go deeper but she moved away. “I have bad morning breath.” She pulled the blanket to cover her face.
“Do you? I haven’t tasted it.”
“Ew. Gross. Don’t even think about it.” She draped her arm over him.
Loki laughed. “Okay, I’ll find it out in the next few years. Or days. I believe it will be days.”
She buried her face at the crook of his neck, lining kisses up to his jaw. Loki hummed when her soft lips found that soft, sensitive spot below his ear. “What time is it?” She whispered against his skin.
“I have no idea.” Loki’s hand went down to her bare behind and grabbed it. Stella giggled. “But we have more time for this.”
She turned to lie on her belly and propped her elbows, raising her torso so she could look at him. “As much as I want to do that, I’d like to walk properly later, thank you very much.”
“I can heal you.” He suggested.
“Where’s the fun in that? I like to have the remnants of the feeling.”
Loki chuckled. “I didn’t know you have that in you.”
“What? You expect me to be a goody-two-shoes kind of girl? No, sir.” She batted her lashes.
He absent-mindedly twirled her curls on a finger. “Not really that. On second thought, I think I had it coming.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Is it a bad thing?”
“No. No, it’s not. That drew me to you; your feistiness.”
She smirked naughtily then her eyes softened as she gazed upon him. “I love you, Loki.”
He brushed her curls off her face. “I love you more, Stella.” She laid on his bare chest and closed her eyes, sighing in contentment. “I could do this all day with you.”
“Me too.” She opened her eyes and smiled. She kissed his chest but something caught her eyes. She trailed a finger on fine, pale scratch marks on his chest. “What are these? Scars?” Loki followed her hand, also tracing the lines that she meant.
He turned to the windows, looking distantly. “Loki?” She sat, pulling the blankets to cover her.
He turned back and smiled sadly at her. “They were battle scars, love.” He held her hand that was flat on his chest.
But Stella wasn’t buying it. There was sadness and fear in his eyes that he couldn’t hide. “You can tell me anything, Loki. We’re in this together now.”
He clenched his jaw, not because of anger, but more of fear. He was afraid that they would come back for him once he talked about them. He looked at Stella and thought she needed to know. He adjusted himself, shifting the pillows behind him. He still held her hand on his chest. Stella waited for him, worry and concern all over her face. “These are the reasons why I don’t want us near the scepter again. Do you remember the battle of New York?” She nodded. “Do you know how I managed to have the Chitauri army?” She shook her head. Loki closed his eyes. This will be hard for him but his lover needs to know, she deserves to know what happened.
He looked at her. “Do you know what happened during Thor’s coronation?”
Stella slowly looked up in recognition. “Wait a minute. Thor’s coronation. I was there. Athena was there. I only remembered it now.”
He blinked. “So you know what happened?”
“There was an invasion. That’s what the guards say. Frigga then requested our presence in the war room.”
He cocked a brow in surprise, then he also remembered. “You were there. I remember you. You were wearing a white flowing dress with gold details, there were gold bracers on your arms -” he held her wrists as if seeing those there - “and there was a crown of gold leaves on your braided bun.”
“Yes, I was wearing that. That’s pretty detailed. I was just on the outskirts and there were a lot of people at that time.”
“Just goes to show that you have caught my attention even back then. Also, I heard that big oaf asked why there are women in the room, forgetting that Asgard has external consultants who are women. I was so tempted to slam his thick head on the wall but I had to wait until it was just the two of us for me to do it.” Stella chuckled. “So you know what happened?”
“It was a blur. Everything that happened was a blur.”
“It was just the start.” He locked his fingers into hers. “I was in contact with the Jotuns even before that, playing both fields, as you Midgardians say it. The only plan was to delay Thor’s coronation. I didn’t want him to lead. He was still impulsive and I thought Asgard would go down if he was in power. He was dangerous. So I let a few frost giants in.
Jericho’s words started to play in her head and she mentally shut it out instantly. “Did you already know that you were a Jotun when you were doing that?”
“No, I haven’t. I found out that I was one of them when Thor brought us to march and fight in Jotunheim. My arm turned blue after one held me. And everything went downhill. Thor got exiled to Midgard, Odin went to Odinsleep - sort of a comatose, in Midgardian language,” he explained when Stella gave him a questioning look. “Then I was made king. But Thor managed to go back, Jotuns invaded Asgard, I used the casket against them, and Thor destroyed the rainbow bridge, they let go of me.”
She tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean they let go of you?”
“I fell from the bridge, into the abyss.”
She looked up, picturing the bridge and the Bifrost in her head. “You mean you fell to space?” Loki’s breathing went heavy. “Loki, if you don’t want to tell me it’s okay,” she told him as she sensed his anxiety. She leaned forward, wiping the cold sweat that was beading on his forehead. She didn’t know what else to tell him. “I...I’m sorry.”
Loki sat, covering his face with a hand. His skin remembered the tip of The Other’s dagger slashing on the surface. He tightly closed his eyes.
Stella brought her hand on his shoulder and stroked him, attempting to make him relax. “Loki, I’m right here. You’re here with me. You’re safe.”
His hand sought hers and she held his hands. He looked at her. “I’m sorry.”
“No, love.” Stella held his face. “Don’t be sorry. I should be the one to apologize. I asked about it.”
“No. You need to know.”
Her finger traced back the scars. “Whoever they are, they did this to you?” Her voice was thick in worry.
He nodded. “I bargained for my life, invading Midgard in exchange for it. Then you were under the control of the scepter for a few minutes...to be honest I was afraid they would come after you.”
Stella turned serious, fearing for the innocent people’s life instead of hers. “Will they?”
“I hope they won’t.”
She took a moment before saying, “it’s okay. Whoever they are, whatever they bring, I will fight them.”
“Oh, Norns.” He gasped, now forgetting his fears of The Other and starting to worry about her. “No, you don’t fight them. If they were to come they have to go through me. Just me. I don’t want them to get you.”
“Loki, listen to me.” Her hand cupped his cheek. “We’re in this together, right? Your battles are my battles now.”
Hearing and feeling how Stella cares for him made him feel light inside. “Darling.” He held her hand that was on his cheek. “As much as I want your battles to be mine too, this is one battle that I want to keep you safe from.”
“I’ll still be ready, swords out, if ever. And you.” she jabbed her finger on his chest lightly. “Not even you can stop me.”
“I’ll still try to stop you. If I’m busy, I’ll let Thor do it.” He pinched her nose.
She swatted his hand and they giggled. Loki was still nervous nevertheless. “Will they come back for you? Did they ever attempt to get you?”
“No, they didn’t. After that, the ones who disturbed my peace were Odin and Ares.”
Stella rolled her eyes when he mentioned Ares. “We’ll have a meeting by 1 this afternoon, speaking of.”
“Can you not mention that for a while?” He grabbed her and pulled her down into the bed. Stella squealed and giggled. “I wanna stay here like this for a while.”
Stella turned to face him. “But I’m kinda hungry. Why don’t we grab something to eat first then go back here?”
“Or we can have breakfast in bed?” He suggested.
She cocked her head up. “How?”
Loki raised his hand to the side of the bed and with a wave, a side table full of fruits, various pieces and kinds of bread, and breakfast meat appeared. Stella’s eyes widened. “Okay, I forgot you can do that.”
Natasha was standing by a working table, scanning through a folder, while sipping her cup of coffee. She was outside the conference room where they would have a meeting in about an hour. She looked up when she heard the elevator’s sound. The doors opened and it was Stella, bringing her own large cup of coffee. Her long curls were grouped and flowing on her left side.
“Hey,” Natasha called out and Stella raised her cup in acknowledgment as she walked to her. “So you two disappeared after Jericho trashed Loki. What happened?”
Stella placed her cup on the table and patted her pockets. “Why do women’s jeans have small pockets?” The small wallet she was holding disappeared into the blue mist. “I don’t want to keep on magicking my stuff.” She looked at Natasha. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
Natasha was studying Stella the whole time she was fidgeting with her wallet and she noticed that the guardian’s lips were fuller than normal and, if she was not mistaken, there were dark marks on her neck that was covered by her hair, marks the size of a nickel or a quarter, blurred by a layer of concealer.
Stella knew Natasha was ‘Black Widowing’ on her, with the redhead having a smug look on her face. Stella raised her cup and took a careful sip from it. “What’s with that look?”
Natasha smirked and leaned forward. “Did something happen?”
Stella’s eyes narrowed. Natasha knew something was up, of course. “What happened? Loki’s fine. I told him Jericho will rile up people just to get away from danger.”
Natasha pulled a stool with her foot and sat, perching her elbow on the table for her to rest her head on it. “Uh-huh. What else? Did you tell him anything?” She asked suggestively.
“I told him not to worry about Jericho.”
Natasha pouted her lips sideward. “You didn’t tell him?” Stella took another sip of her coffee. “Or did you just act on it?”
Stella placed her cup down. “Ah, shit. So I don’t have any choice?”
“I told you to tell him what you feel as soon as possible, regardless of what he says in return.”
“Yesterday was not a great time to discuss that, Nat.”
“Oh, really?” Natasha folded her arms on her chest. “Because it looks like you’re into something.” But before Stella could retort, Natasha said “no, it’s not about Jericho or Ares or anyone. I’m talking about -” she pointed at her neck.
Stella’s cheeks burned. “What the fuck,” she muttered. “You can see them?”
“Yes, honey. And your lips are swollen.” Stella gawked and brought a hand to her lips. Natasha beamed. “So, did you tell him?” She nodded. “Then it looks like things are doing great on your end.” Natasha placed a hand over hers and squeezed lightly. “I’m happy for you.”
She sighed. “I don’t want to kiss and tell but knowing that I have not covered them properly just blows everything.”
“I thought you could heal fast?”
“My body doesn't consider hickies as injuries.”
“So, where’s he now? Why aren’t you two together?”
Stella finished her coffee before speaking. “Thor pulled him to spar with him, much to his dismay. But I told him to indulge his brother because we aren’t telling anyone about our relationship.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not yet time. And I feel like it’s not anyone’s business anyway, except for you, because I told you.”
“Did you talk about it?”
Stella pulled a stool and sat in front of Natasha. “Nope. But it seems like we have this silent agreement to keep this for ourselves. We still have a lot to figure out.”
Natasha nodded. “Yeah, you do.”
Their attention was caught by the elevator’s sound. They watched the door and it was Thor and Loki. Stella’s eyes locked with Loki and he gave her a subtle smirk.
“Good afternoon, Lady Romanoff, Lady Lords,” Thor said enthusiastically as they approached the two women.
“You look jovial, Thor. What’s up?” Stella asked, her eyes hovering on Loki. Loki slightly shook his head.
“Jane brought me to this place last night and there were different kinds of cheese. You would love it, Lady Lords! You should also check it out, Lady Romanoff.” He pointed at Natasha.
Stella let out half of her breath that she was holding. Thor was just excited over cheese, good. “I’d love to check that out one time. You should tell me where it is.”
Natasha watched Loki as he stood beside Stella. Loki saw the redhead observing him at the corner of his eye so he kept his respectable distance from Stella.
“He has been droning about it since I saw him,” Loki told them.
“Oh, brother. Midgardian cheese is exquisite! You’ll love it!”
Loki rolled his eyes. “And he told me that for the 9th time now.”
The elevator doors opened and the rest of the Avengers arrived. Steve nodded at them in greeting. Sam was tailing Steve. Clint flicked his suspicious eyes at Loki, then a questioning look at Natasha. Bruce and Tony were talking, the latter carrying his nth cup of coffee for that day.
“So, what’s up?” Tony asked them before they entered the conference room. “Do we have the location?”
Natasha held up the folder. “Not quite.” They filed into the room. Stella and Loki were the last ones to enter.
“You didn’t tell Thor?” Stella asked in a lower voice.
“Do you want me to?” He replied. Stella looked at him, apprehension was written all over her. “It’s okay. We don’t have to.” She nodded and they entered the room. She sat beside Bruce, who was observing them both. Loki sat beside Thor on the other side of the table. Clint’s eyes were still on Loki, anticipating every move he made. Loki smirked at him. Clint hardened his stare back.
Natasha stood up, crossed her arms, and said “thank you for finally arriving in time. You probably know what this meeting is all about.”
“The Castle guy?” Clint raised an eyebrow.
“That and more.” Natasha placed her hands flat on the table. “Castle was here to steal the scepter and use it to turn Stella. We were thinking someone who was working with Loki 3 years ago is possibly working with Ares too. Someone human or a demigod.” She looked at Clint. “That’s why I asked for the names of everyone involved with it.”
Clint looked at Loki. “So you’re here to identify that person? Whoever that may be?”
“I know you are not thrilled to have me on board, Agent Barton, but the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare personally asked our father to let me work on this with Lady Lords.” Loki declared.
Clint leaned back on his swivel chair, resting his arms on the armrest and stretching his legs under the table. “Then why does that concern us?”
“Loki and I are here for Ares while you, the Avengers, are in this case to make sure no innocent mortals get involved. That’s what Director Fury told me.” Stella related.
“We’re ground and crowd control, recon, everything. They need all the help we can give them.” Natasha interjected. Clint just gave her, and everyone, an incredulous look.
“Look, Clint. I know you’re doubtful with this whole thing,” Steve started. “We all are at first. But we need this unconventional help at this time. I believe Fury talked to you about this.”
Clint nodded furiously. “Oh, yeah. He did. And I asked him if he was mind-controlled by this guy.” He jerked his finger in Loki's direction. There was a blank but serious expression on his face that made Stella take in a deep breath. Clint sat forward. “Are all of you mind-controlled? Steve? Bruce?” He looked at the two men, expecting the same look of disapproval but found nothing.
“Clint, just shut up. If we were mind-controlled, we wouldn’t be alive in the first place and you know that.” Natasha glared at him. Loki smirked, amused by the whole thing unfolding before him.
Clint glared back at her before saying, “I still can’t believe this is happening.”
“Agent Barton.” Clint’s hard stare returned to Loki when the latter said his name. “I know you still see me as the enemy, but this time you have to trust me.” Loki brought his hands on top of the table and clasped his hands together. “We are facing an enemy who is stronger and older than me or Thor, I believe not even all your combined powers and resources can take him down. You need us for this.”
Clint fidgeted with his ear. “Is there something wrong with my hearing aid or this just happened?”
Natasha covered her face with a hand. “Do you want me to rip that out of you?” She sneered.
“It’s best to trust this plan, Clint. We’re facing a tricky enemy.” Bruce insisted. “We can’t go against someone who is playing with dark magic. Aliens, sure. We can do that. But this is another thing.” Bruce speaking seemed to calm Clint down, for he went back slouching on his seat, his head resting on his perched arm. “Can we proceed?” He asked.
Clint rolled his eyes and huffed in defeat. He wouldn’t argue with someone who has the potential to turn into a green, angry giant.
Bruce nodded at Natasha and she did the same. “Going back, the scepter has been transferred to a secure area.” She eyed Tony, who raised his cup.
“Hopefully it wouldn’t see the light of day,” Loki commented.
“Hopefully.” Natasha seconded. She sat and raised a hand to Bruce’s direction. “Second, Bruce found an active tracker on Castle.”
“It’s still transmitting up to this hour.” He added.
“Wait. Do you know what it transmits?” It was Tony’s time to ask.
“No idea. But it looks like a simple tracker for their HQ to know where Castle is.”
“Huh. That’s weird. Why would they know where their pawn is if they sent him in a suicide mission?”
“To know if he’s still alive?” Bruce shrugged. “Just a wild guess.”
“Or to retrieve him?” Steve suggested.
“They’ll have a problem if they’re still planning to retrieve Castle. Anyway, we’ll talk about that later. Where does this tracker transmit?” Tony leaned forward, arms resting on the table.
Bruce pulled out a device as big as his hand and placed it on the table. The device lit up and a holographic image of a map appeared before them.
Steve parted his lips. “That looks like…”
“The Mojave desert.” Sam finished his sentence. “But why can’t we see anything? Is it underneath?”
“I tried different scans, even running x-ray scans on the whole desert but we’re getting nothing,” Bruce told them.
“I’m also working on a powerful scanner if anyone’s interested.” Tony quipped.
“If that starts working today then we can use it to scan this area, Tones.”
“That’s the thing. It’s still not ready. I’m still curing another batch of this element.” He tapped the arc reactor on his chest.
Bruce gulped as he looked at Stella, then Loki, then Natasha.
“Then we have no choice but to be there in person,” Stella concluded.
“You do know this desert is a vast area of nothingness, right?” Clint sarcastically said.
Stella brushed off Clint’s temper. “Loki and I could make ourselves invisible, that’s why we’re willing to do this.”
“But that doesn’t mean it’s just going to be the two of you since we are all here, right?” He continued.
“Exactly,” Natasha replied. “They’re going in, but we’ll be on standby for backup and data extraction.”
“What do we need from here?” Tony asked.
“We’ll check if the tesseract’s in here. If it’s not, then any information as to where it could be.” Stella explained.
Tony nodded. “Good enough.”
“But since we can’t have any preliminary information as to what this building holds and how this looks like, how are we going to infiltrate the compound?” Steve asked.
“There must be an entry point. There are towns at the edge of the desert where we can stay.” It was Sam’s turn to explain. “The only thing is, the population is so low we will be noticeable.” Sam stood up and gestured at Bruce’s device. “May I?” He asked Bruce and the latter nodded. Sam pulled the device closer to him and he typed the coordinates on the small screen. The map zoomed out and as he entered the coordinates he knew from his military training, green dots appeared at the edge of the desert. “Those are the possible entry points leading to the desert.” He pushed the device a little to the center of the table. There were fourteen green dots. “Each dot is a small town. These are the usual places the US military stay when they train in the desert. Sometimes the scientists come in and stay in these towns. There are B&Bs and motels in these areas.”
“So you’re saying we either pose as the military or scientists to get into these towns without raising any suspicions?” Loki clarified.
“Exactly.” Sam nodded with conviction. “You have two scientists here.” He gestured at Bruce but hesitated at Tony. “Well, no offense, Tony, but you’re too high-profile.”
Tony shrugged. “Yeah, I can’t get out there without being noticed.”
Thor lit up. “Scientists, you say?” Everyone looked at him. “We can pretend to be Jane’s team.”
Natasha smiled at the idea. “That’s one idea we can use. Posing as the military can raise suspicions as well.”
Everyone looked at each other, contemplating the idea. Tony raised another suggestion that complemented the plan, to which everyone agreed.
“Will Jane be okay with it?” Stella asked Thor.
“I think she will.” He beamed, proud that he had an idea that will come to fruition.
“Then we need her to be here before we lay out all the plans,” Natasha stated. “Can we call her in today or tonight?”
“She’s in the university for the whole day today but I think I can ask her if she’s free tonight.”
“Invite her in for dinner, Thor.” Tony winked at him. “Italian sounds good tonight.”
“So that’s it for now. We’ll adjourn the meeting until we talk to Jane Foster.” Natasha declared.
“Yeah, and Stella, I need you in the lab.” Tony jutted his thumb. Stella nodded at him. Tony approached Sam and patted him on the back. “Redwing’s ready for deployment.”
Sam glowed like a kid on Christmas morning. “Is he now?”
“Yeah. Be in the lab if you wanna meet him.” Tony flipped on his heels and Sam followed.
Natasha was talking to Stella when she noticed Loki was waiting for her by the door of the conference room. Natasha pulled Stella to the door and whispered, “Your boyfriend’s waiting for you.” She let go of Stella when they were in Loki’s earshot. “I’ll see you later.” Natasha jogged to catch Clint in the elevator.
When the doors closed, Loki laced his hands to hers. “Are you sure this plan of Thor’s will work?”
Stella looked up at him. “It’s worth a shot,” she replied.
Loki kissed her forehead. “I don’t think Miss Foster would be thrilled to meet me again.” Stella cocked her head, silently asking why. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when there’s time.” She tiptoed and their lips met for a quick kiss. “Now, go. Stark is waiting for you.”
“I’ll see you later.” She kissed him again on the lips. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He smiled as he watched her enter the elevator.
“I knew you had something for her, brother.” He heard Thor say when the doors closed.
Loki sighed and turned to face Thor. “I thought you left the floor.”
“I think you missed seeing me. I was still here.” Thor approached Loki and patted him on his shoulder. “I’m so happy for you, Loki. You finally found someone.”
Loki reluctantly smirked at Thor’s sincerity. It was a rare thing for him to be like that and it made Loki warm inside. “I finally found someone who understands and accepts me, brother,” he replied and they shared a light laugh.
“But I do care for you too, Loki.”
“You’re my brother. You didn’t have any other choice.” Loki sauntered to the window.
Thor followed. “Even if I had a choice, I would still look out for you. And now that you found your princess, I’ll also look out for her.” Loki looked at his brother. “I’ll protect her for you.”
“She’s no princess, Thor.”
“But she’s yours, as much as Jane is mine.” Loki raised an eyebrow. He was not used to Thor talking about his relationship with Jane Foster. “She may not have a kingdom or a throne, but she is the prince’s lover. And I believe you treat her as such.”
“I’d rather treat her as my queen.” Loki retorted.
Thor slapped Loki’s back merrily. “Then it’s much better.” He then grabbed Loki into a hug, which made the latter muffle a curse. “I’m so happy and proud of you, brother.”
“Thor, let me go.” Loki gasped.
Thor released him from his hug but held him at arm’s length. “I do believe our mother is also seeing this in Valhalla and she is celebrating for the love you found in Lady Lords.” Loki sighed and smiled when he felt the tears welling up in his eyes. “Mother was fond of Lady Lords and if she was still here, she would love Stella to be part of the family.”
Loki laughed. Thor was already thinking of marriage when he was just in a relationship with Stella for less than 24 hours! “Calm down, brother. We just confessed our feelings yesterday and called each other lovers this morning.”
“Why not? I can already see Stella as my sister-in-law, as Midgardians call it!” Thor laughed as he shook Loki.
“I’d love to take my time and cherish every moment with her.” Loki went back to idly watching the city below them. “For now she is but a heartbeat.” Melancholy covered every word he uttered.
Thor looked at his brother in concern. This is what they were afraid of. Loving a Midgardian would be as fleeting as taking care of a rose bush - one can never last long, sometimes they would wither without you knowing it.