Lilimar Times Gazette

TW: Kidnapping, abduction.

PROMPT.

Lokius decided to live on one of the timelines full time and work for the TVA part time when Loki returns from the Tree of Sadness.

They make a nice little life for themselves and Loki enjoys their simple life immensely. They aren't married but Loki is planning on proposing marriage to Mobius soon.

And then Mobius disappears. Loki returns home one day to an empty house that looks as if Thor had activated Mjolnir inside. Overturned furniture, everything strewn about. A rather serious struggle happened here.

Loki's breath quickens and his heart speeds up in fear for his beloved. It was obvious to Loki that someone had taken him.

In the kitchen there was a paper tacked to the wall with a dagger. It was decorative, the craftsmanship of Jotunheim.

He growled in anger and snatched the dagger out of the wall to read the note. He assumed it would be a ransom demand or a threat or both, revenge for attempting to wipe out the Jotun race.

There was none of that, though. In the Jotun language it was written out that they had taken Loki's husband (he supposed to many races they would be considered married, regardless of formality, but it still sent a pang through his heart. He hadn't even gotten the chance to ask) and that Loki could retrieve him in person at the Royal Palace of Jotunheim. And to come alone.

Loki dons his old armor from Asgard, adding a fur cloak and fur lining to his boots and set off to find his way to Jotunheim.

He had not known what to expect when he got there. Laufey was dead, he had killed him himself. Even in this timeline. He had thought he had killed all of Laufey's other children, as well, but perhaps not. Perhaps one had survived and claimed the throne. Or perhaps it was someone completely new who had seized power in the absence of the former royal family. Perhaps someone whose family Loki had killed.

But if any of that were the case then they should take it out on Loki, not Mobius! Mobius hadn't even been there! He was innocent of that!

Of all the possibilities running through his mind, he had not ever considered that his beloved's kidnapper was his own biological mother.

He had never met Farbauti, and he had not asked Mobius much about her. He had seen her briefly, the moment she had abandoned him. Except she hadn't. She had left him in the temple thinking he would be taken in by the clerics and kept safe until she could return for him. He had seen her soothe him with her magic when he had fussed as a baby when she had turned to leave.

Seeing the footage had brought tears to his eyes and it had made him so emotional he had told Mobius to switch it off and he had never asked to see it again or anything else involving his mother.

She had been so beautiful and she had clearly loved him so much. It had been easier when he had assumed she hated him for being a runt, for being a bastard, for any number of reasons that were not his fault.

Did she hate him now? After he had returned to Jotunheim only to try to murder her and their entire race? Did she bring him here to punish him, the way Odin had intended to if Loki had made it back to Asgard rather than escaping with the Tesseract only to be captured by the TVA.

But no. She was not angry. She had come into information that he had been spotted living on Midgard with a spouse quite by accident and wanted to see him and thought he would not come any other way. Mobius was brought out, unharmed and well-cared for. In clothing that was often afforded to royal and noble spouses that came from planets with much warmer climates and who could not acclimate to the extreme cold of Jotunheim.

Of course, their civilization was quite vast and actually lived in subterranean cities and made use of cave systems for the most part so Mobius had not been living in an ice fortress this whole time.

PROMPT.

Don takes in an injured little magpie one day. Most people in his little suburb of Cleveland were glued to the television sets, their phones, their computers watching coverage of the alien invasion of New York City and the fact that the guy who started it had apparently gotten away and there was a manhunt on for him.

But in Ohio most people felt safe. Invading New York made sense. Hell, invading Washington D.C. would make sense. But Ohio? Those would be some stupid aliens to come to this place. Most Ohioans didn't even want to be in Ohio.

Okay, that wasn't totally fair. But as a lifelong resident and citizen of Ohio he felt like he could get away with saying that.

Besides, this is what the Avengers are for, right? And this is what various government agencies are for. It was scary to be invaded, even if it was elsewhere in the country, but most people had confidence that we would be okay.

Still, he had gotten sick of looking at the footage. It was still unsettling and frightening, even if the lead alien in the fancy armor was hot as he'll.

Listen, leave Don alone. He's been alone for a long time after the divorce and dating hasn't even worked out and the one time he tried one of those apps the guy was super weird. In a sketchy way. Don was desperate but not desperate enough to bring that home.

But, no longer wanting to look at the footage and the boys being at their mother's for the weekend, Don walked outside to get some fresh air, maybe touch some grass or something. Calm down.

And that was when he saw the little magpie in his yard, hopping around drunkenly. He could tell that was an indication of an injury. Don's parents had both been veterinarians and they'd taught Don a thing or two. And, though he had not used it, he had gone to school for it himself. But he didn't think that was a career path for him. He couldn't handle having to put animals down or having them die when there was no way to heal what was killing them. His heart was too soft for that.

Technically, he should call a wildlife rescue or an actual veterinarian. But at this hour most places were closed and he would have to leave a message and hope someone got back to him.

"Hey, it's okay," Don said soothingly as he slowly approached the little magpie.

It tried to get away from him, but given that it couldn't fly it couldn't get away. And Don knew if he left it out here a cat would get it, or an owl given the time of day soon, or possibly even a snake. Less likely around here, but still possible.

He gently scooped up the little bird.

It squawked its protest loudly and indignantly and pecked at his hand.

"Ow, hey. Calm down, sweetheart, I'm trying to help. Don't be scared," he said, gently. He wasn't angry. He thought if he had been injured and some random giant came along and picked him up in his hand, speaking a language he couldn't understand, he'd be pretty terrified too.

He took the bird inside.

"Unhand me!" The bird yelled.

Don smiled. He had forgotten that magpies were actually very clever mimics and could easily mimic human speech.

"Where'd you learn that one?" He asked. People didn't usually talk like that anymore. Maybe sitting outside the open windows of someone watching an old black and white movie?

Don brought the bird into his house and set him down on the kitchen island, got his supplies and began to examine and treat the bird.

Thankfully, the wing wasn't broken but it was injured and he was sure that had made it too painful and difficult to fly even a couple feet.

The magpie had continued to peck at him and hurl verbal abuse until it seemed to realize Don really was only helping it.

He wasn't sure what to do after that. The bird couldn't go back out yet. So, he decided to keep it in the house and do his best to deal with any problems that might arise from having a wild bird loose in the house. At least right now it couldn't fly so there wasn't really a chance it could get up somewhere high enough Don had trouble getting it down.

"You hungry?" He asked. "I don't have any frogs or insects or whatever in here..."

The bird gave an indignant sound and ruffled its feathers.

"Hey, sorry. I didn't expect to have a magpie for a houseguest," Don defended.

He looked through his fridge and took out an apple, coring it and cutting it up before bringing it to the magpie. It was a little small, so he suspected it was a juvenile.

The bird eyed the apple pieces but decided they were acceptable and ate them.

Loki was quite hungry and he had watched the Midgardian prepare the apple so he knew it wasn't poison. Then again, why would he bring an injured animal into his home, treat the injury with his own supplies, and then promptly intentionally poison it? That would make no sense.

He had evaded capture by the skin of his teeth, and he had thought for a moment that he had come all this way only to be too exhausted and injured to force himself to fly any further and meet death at the hands of some Midgardian peasant. The Norns do so love to mock him so it wouldn't surprise him.

But instead, it seems as though this time he had had the good fortune to encounter a kind and gentle man who cared about creatures he thought were weaker than he. And his brother and his friends would surely not think to look for him here, so far away and in the home of a random Midgardian living the life of a pampered little bird.

Whether or not Don's previous marriage happens and the boys resulting from that union exist depend on who decides to write this and their preference for or against that in this story.

TW: Past child abuse, current abuse of an adult child.

PROMPT.

"There are things that he cannot bring himself to speak of, even to me, his husband, in the privacy of our own home. Things that I know were perpetrated against him at your hands. And now, I come home to you looming over my beloved, berating him while he sobs? And you thought I would just...mind my own business, as you put it? How dare you. If you think that my husband's tears are not my business, that our home being invaded by bullies and abusers right beneath my nose is not my business, then you are sorely mistaken," Loki growls, angry and dangerous.