#you know...a trickster...a chaotic person

You wake up, your head swimming, your thoughts disoriented and groggy. It’s dark and you don’t remember falling asleep. Your throat feels dry and raspy. When you move to rub your eyes you find your wrists are bound behind your back. Panic rises in your throat and you cry out, only to find that you’re gagged as well. You squirm, trying to loosen the bindings when you hear a voice “Ah, you’re awake.”

Your eyes quickly dart in the direction of the sound and they land on your captor. You feel your heart rate increase as you recognise him – he was one of the most recognisable figures right now. He’d been in the news every day ever since he’d arrived on Earth. Loki, the trickster, the Norse God.

Loki stands in the corner of the room, watching you intently. You look around but you can’t figure out where you are. A dark, small room, clearly somewhere used for storage. No windows, just one bulb in the middle of the ceiling that doesn’t produce much light. Your gaze drifts back to Loki, trying to read his expression.

What could he possibly want with you? You’re nothing to do with the Avengers or any of this craziness that Loki has involved himself in. In fact, as far as you’re concerned, you’re nothing special. You work at your local grocery store, you don’t have many friends, your life has been pretty uneventful. So what could the trickster God possibly want?

Loki suddenly pushes off from the wall and approaches you. You shrink back but with your wrists bound you can’t get very far and he squats down in front of you, his fingers tracing the gag in your mouth “I’m going to take this off,” He says, his voice surprisingly soft “I wouldn’t recommend screaming. No one will hear you anyway. It’ll just be a terrible nuisance to me and a waste of breath for you.”

You watch, wide-eyed as Loki gently pulls the cloth out of your mouth, loosening it and letting it hang around your neck “Let me go.” You say immediately. You cough, your throat is so dry – you have no idea how long you’ve been down here but clearly a while.

Loki chuckles, his eyes lighting up “Now why on earth would I do that?”

“I did nothing to you.”

“And?”

“And… I- I don’t know you, I’m not part of this-”

“Part of what?”

You squirm, your wrists writhing in the restraints “Part of your- I don’t know, your world domination plans. I’m just me, I have nothing to do with-”

Loki reaches out, his fingers stroking your cheek. You try to flinch away but it’s hard with the restraints holding you firmly in place “No, you have nothing to do with that. This is… More personal than that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re divine.” Loki whispers “From the moment I saw you, I knew I had to have you-”

“’Saw me?’ Saw me where?”

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you for a while. You… Intrigue me.”

“Why would I intrigue you? I’m nothing special-”

Loki grins, his eyes bright with amusement “Because we’re alike, you and me.”

Your eyes widen again at that statement “Alike? No, we’re not-”

“Oh but we are. Both underappreciated, misunderstood.” He runs a hand through your hair, almost tenderly “I’ve had my eye on you for a long time. And now here you are. All mine.”

You squirm harder “I’m not like you. You’re cruel and chaotic and- I’m not like you.”

Loki moves his hand to grip your arm “Quit squirming, you’re not getting free. You are like me. I told you, I’ve been watching you for a while. You fascinate me, the way you’ve remained so kind-hearted even to those who don’t deserve it. I found it amusing at first. Such a weakness, to be kind to those who have wronged you. But now it intrigues me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You still care for your Mother even after-”

“Don’t.” You don’t know how he knows but you can tell that he does. You never think about your childhood, not if you can help it. You’d gone to therapy for a while but she’d wanted to discuss your early years and it was too painful. They still gave you nightmares. Your Mother was at the root of most of them.

The truly awful ones though, were about your Father. You tried to think of him even less.

It was true – you were caring for your mother now you were an adult. Not religiously but you were popping in every other day, tidying her apartment, making sure she had everything she needed, cleaning her up if she needed it. As a child you’d promised yourself that the moment you were old enough you’d cut contact with her. But you hadn’t. You’d visited her every week like a good child and then when she’d fallen ill you’d begun increasing your visits.

“Why?” Loki asks you now “Why do you take care of her?”

You hesitate, breathing heavily as you consider this. Why do you care for her? After everything she did to you, after all the promises you made to yourself as a child… Why? Eventually you meet his eye and tell him quietly “Because… She’s my Mom. I’m an only child, I’m all she has. She needs me-”

Loki scoffs “Kindness to the people who wronged you is weakness-”

“Maybe. But I’m still her kid, like I said, she needs me-”

Loki laughs before shaking his head “You’re wrong.”

“I’m not going to debate the philosophy of this with you. Let me go!” You tug on the ropes around your wrists and Loki sighs, his hand grabbing your arm again.

“Stop that. You’re mine now, you’re not going anywhere.” Loki tilts his head to the side as he studies you for a second before asking “What about me? Do you believe I’m worthy of kindness? You believe after everything I’ve done my brother would welcome me back with open arms?”

You hesitate again, not sure how to respond to that. Eventually you stutter out “I- Well- You- You’ve killed people-”

Loki sighs heavily “In pursuit of my goal. Their deaths were… Unfortunate but necessary.”

“Nobody’s death is unfortunate but necessary.”

“This is going to be fun.” Loki says, the smile never leaving his face “Your sense of morals intrigues me, especially with everything you’ve been through. And especially after what happened to your Father.”

You go pale at that but you try and keep your voice steady, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing he’s gotten to you “How do you know so much about me?”

“I have my ways.” Loki strokes his fingers over your cheek again. You try to flinch away and he grabs your chin, forcing you to look at him “I know a lot about you. Where you live, where you work… And I know you’re lonely. Just like me.”

You squirm again, glaring at him “I’m nothing like you.”

Loki chuckles “You can deny it all you want Darling, it doesn’t make any difference. Because I know what happened. I know what you did.”

You keep glaring at him though your heart is pounding with fear and dread. He knows about your Father. What you did. He’s not bluffing, somehow he knows the truth “I had to.”

“Unfortunate but necessary.” Loki says smugly.

You huff but you don’t have a comeback to that “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you’re mine now.” Loki says simply “Mine to own, to love-”

You scoff “I’ll never love you.”

“No matter. We have plenty of time and I have my ways…” Loki lets go of your chin and runs his fingers down your cheek again “I’m sure I can persuade you.”

“You won’t, you-” You groan as he pulls the cloth gag back up, tightening it around your mouth. You squirm in the restraints but they don’t give.

Loki smirks “I have things to do. But I’ll be back soon Darling. We have plenty more to talk about.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to your forehead before straightening up. He leaves the room, giving you one last look before closing the door. You hear the sound of the lock clicking. You’re stuck in here. At his mercy until he chooses to return.

You struggle hard against the restraints but they don’t give. You’re trapped here and he’ll be back eventually, wanting to talk about God knows what. You won’t be talking about your childhood with him though, that’s for sure.

You’d never told anyone the truth about your Father. Not your Mom, not the police, not anyone. And no one had ever guessed. It was a secret you’d planned to take to your own grave. But Loki knew. Somehow he knew. And he didn’t care – in fact, he almost seemed enchanted by it.

True to his word Loki returns a few hours later. You’re exhausted from struggling by this point and your throat is so dry that you’d do almost anything for a drink of water. Loki pulls the gag down from your mouth and you almost whimper “Water, please…”

“Of course Darling.” Loki holds up a bottle of water to your lips, helping you to drink it. He seems almost amused by your desperation and you feel a stab of helpless anger.

He’s brought a tray of food with him and you tug at the restraints around your wrists “Can you untie me so I can at least eat in a civilised manner?”

“As long as you promise not to try any escape attempts.” Loki says evenly. You glare at him but nod begrudgingly. Your stomach has been rumbling ever since he left you alone and the thought of him feeding you like a baby makes you want to curl up and die. Besides, what chance did you stand against a God? No point in running.

Loki unties you and you groan with relief, stretching your arms before hungrily devouring the food he’s brought with him. Nothing special, just a slightly dry sandwich but it’s better than nothing. Loki watches you with a raised eye-brow and you glare back at him “How do you know so much about me anyway?”

“I have-”

“Your ways, yes. What ways are they?”

“I’ve been watching you for years Y/N. Keeping an eye on you. Honestly, I was impressed with how you handled your Father. No one suspected a thing. How-”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m not talking about my childhood, I’m not talking about anything-”

“Okay. In that case, what’s the real reason you take care of your Mother?” Loki asks.

You groan, your head tilting back as you consider his question. Eventually you meet his gaze and mumble begrudgingly “Because… Despite everything… I want to be kind. I want to be a good person. I can’t control her choices, what she did to me but… I can control how I react to it now. And that’s how I win. By being kind.”

Loki rolls his eyes “You’re still lying.”

“No I’m not! I-”

“‘Kindness is important’, blah blah blah. ‘I’m the bigger person’ blah blah blah. Oh I don’t doubt you believe that philosophy but let’s face it, we both know that’s not the real reason. So tell me.”

“You seem to know so much about me so why don’t you tell me why I do it?”

Loki smirks “Because despite everything that she did, you still seek her approval. You want her to love you.” You glare at him, irritated he saw through you so easily and Loki laughs “And how do you think I know that, hmm?”

“Our situations aren’t the same.”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Thor wants you to go home, it was all over the news. You have a brother who loves you, a home waiting for you-”

“They would lock me up-”

“Not if you stop this now. I had no choice. If I’d let him carry on… Well, it was him or me.” You purse your lips together “And at least I stopped with him. I’m not trying to invade a different planet-”

“There’s nothing left for me on Asgard. And I will not return there.”

You consider that for a moment “I never ran away. Thought about it a lot but I was always too scared. There was always something holding me back.” You’re surprised by how open you’re suddenly being with him but now you’ve started you find you can’t stop “I never cared for my Father’s approval. Right from when I was little I knew I didn’t need it. My Mom was different though. She was a victim, like me. It’s been hard. She still mourns him and I get so angry because I just think… I saved us. And now she wants to rewrite history, pretending he was the greatest man who ever lived, even though she still has the scars, same as me.”

When you finally look at Loki again you see that the smug smirk is gone, replaced by a look of sympathy. Not pity, it’s more… Understanding. Something in you softens “You really know what happened then.”

“Yes.” Loki confirms quietly “And for what it’s worth… I think you were brave. Nobody would’ve believed you given his position.”

Your Dad had been a police man. People still left flowers and letters on his grave saying that he’d saved them, that he’d made their lives better. If only they’d known what he was truly capable of.

“I’ve never told anyone.” You whisper.

“A hard burden to carry alone for a mortal.”

You nod, your eyes filling with tears as it suddenly dawns on you just how much the truth of what you’d done has been weighing on you. Loki reaches out, pulling you into his arms and this time you don’t resist. This secret has been killing you. You’d isolated yourself from friends, never letting anyone get close to you anymore. Your Mother was the only person you still saw regularly and she made you want to scream. Every time she spoke of your Father, praised him, talked about how much she missed him, it took everything in you not to tell her the truth. To blame her for not protecting you. To remind her just what kind of man your Father had been.

“I didn’t want to.” You sob “I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to-”

“I know Darling, I know.” Loki whispers “I was… Wrong. Earlier. We are not that similar.”

“No, you were right.” You sniffle “I’m bad, rotten. A killer. Just like you.”

“No, you’re a survivor. And I believe you would’ve run away. What held you back was knowing you were leaving your Mother alone to fend for herself. And if she couldn’t protect you then she wasn’t going to protect herself.” Loki hesitates “Darling… It was him or your Mother. You did what your Mother could never do.”

He presses a kiss to the top of your head and you find yourself relaxing into his embrace. Loki gently rubs your back with his hand, allowing the silence to wash over you both for a while. There’s some truth in his words, you realise. No matter how angry you are at your Mom, no matter how much her praise of your Father is hard to hear – you know she was a victim too. Terrified to leave him, terrified to be anything other than the good, loving wife. You’d stepped up. And if you had your moment again… You’d still make the same call. Loki’s right. No one would’ve listened to you. He wouldn’t have been stopped by the law. No one was going to protect you or your Mom.

“Come with me.” Loki whispers, breaking the silence “You and me can go anywhere. To any corner of the universe.”

“What about your world domination plans?”

“The world pales in comparison to you. You are the world to me.” Loki cups your cheek with his hand “I have had time to fall in love with you from afar. I know we’re a long way from you loving me in return. But… If you come with me, I promise you this. You will never feel alone again. You will never know pain or suffering or grief ever again. I won’t allow it. My life will be dedicated to you, my love.”

You hesitate “My Mom…”

“You have done everything you can for her love. You deserve to live for yourself now.”

You look up at him, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. Something you never thought you’d see from the God of Mischief himself. Not that you ever expected a God to have been watching you from afar for all these years. His arms around you feel comforting. When was the last time someone comforted you? It had been so long that you couldn’t even remember anymore.

You take a deep breath. You must be insane – this is Loki, the one who’d killed multiple people in pursuit of his twisted goals, the one who was planning an alien invasion in New York… A villain. If anyone saw you with him…

Regardless, you hear yourself saying “Okay. Okay, I’ll go with you.”

Loki’s eyes light up and he smiles, pressing a kiss to your forehead. Maybe you’ll live to regret this. Or… Maybe you won’t. Perhaps you’ve finally found someone you can share your burden with, someone who understands. Who hasn’t judged you, who understands why you did what you did.

Wears their uniform loosely—tie undone, sleeves rolled up—giving off the vibe of someone who "works hard" but never seems to actually do work. Somehow always has snacks or money on hand but never seems to spend their own.

Can disappear just before getting caught—Crowley is suspicious but has no proof. Or in other words the proof was not enough to pin point sampo!yuu as the main culprit so they got off scot free.

Makes deals that sound good at first, but later, people realize Sampo yuu got way more out of it. Basically there's this one rule in nrc is risk on your own self to trust sampo!yuu because the deal that they offer might be a double edge sword that can be good to badly for yourself.

Has a talent for "borrowing" things but always returns them before anyone notices. Whether or not you can consider borrowing or not.

Can read people like a book and uses that skill to get out of trouble or negotiate better deals. Immediately you can guess a person's hobbies just by how they look, act and demeanor. As well manage to recognize if someone is suppressing themselves

Acts broke when asked for money but somehow always has enough for exactly what they need. They would casually ask for ace and deuce lunch and then eat half of it saying they didn't bring money.

Has an ongoing “business rivalry” with Azul. They love outmaneuvering each other, and Azul is both impressed and deeply frustrated by them. Basically just two con artists trying to con each other.

Mutual respect as fellow hustlers, but Ruggie is way warier of them than he lets on. Sampo!yuu immediately recognize this and use it to their disadvantage.

Always manages to get the easiest job while making it seem like they contributed the most.

Whether it’s reselling snacks, doing “favors” for students, or trading information, Sampo yuu always has a side hustle going on. Has a "Secret" Hideout, no one knows exactly where, but it’s the perfect place to lay low when things get too chaotic.

Crowley constantly suspects Sampo yuu is involved in something, but there’s never enough proof. "Yuu, explain this!" "Oh, Headmage, you wound me. I’m innocent!"

Everyone at Nrc knows Sampo yuu, but no one can fully figure them out. Are they trustworthy? Are they a menace? The answer is .. yes.

Despite being a trickster, they have a weird charm that makes them hard to hate. Even students they’ve scammed begrudgingly respect them, they scam Leona and instead of getting angry he just went "touche".

So - I'm still working out the details and stuff but here we go.

The Nocturnal Stars AU is set in a wintery landscape. Everyone is some form of Nocturnal creature, bats and moths being the most common. Home is a Coastal Redwood tree that protects the characters who live amongst his trees, and is almost worshipped like a god.

What most of the residents don't realize is that Home is not as nice as he seems... Recently, more and more residents have gone missing and nobody can seem to figure out why!

Maybe someone will come around to solve this mystery? Anyway! Let's get a look at this cast!

Takeshi

Well! He doesn't match the theme at all, does he? Why! He doesn't even look like a puppet! That's because he's not. Beyond the control of Home lies the real world. A world filled with mystery and enigma.

Takeshi here is a kitsunohinji, a subspecies of kitsune known for their trickster antics. He's constantly warning people not to go into the forest, but who would listen to a trickster?

(Cismale, He/Him. Bisexual.)

Shade Shadowling

One of the younger puppets to reside in Home, they've been personally taken in by Wally, who's raising them like his own. Trying to feed someone who runs on blood definitely isn't the easiest, though! They were discovered when they were younger, alone and afraid with no chance of survival. Wally felt a connection and here he is now with his chaotic pup.

(Non-Binary, they/them. Panromantic Demisexual. White-winged Vampire Bat.)

Poppy Partridge

The sweetest neighbor around! You can often find her within her home, which she shares with Howdy Pillar, or in her bakery, baking baked goods to be sold in Howdy's bugdega! She's been around the longest of the neighbors, and yet she still treats Home like a deity...

(Transfem, she/her. Lesbian. Giant Scops Owl)

Atlas Starstruck

The youngest of them all! Atlas was lovingly taken in by Eddie and Frank when he was just a little caterpillar. Now a full-fledged moth, he has to relearn life from a whole new perspective. He often delivers orders from the bugdega for Howdy so he can discover how to use his wings!

(Cismale, He/Him. Aromantic Asexual. Atlas Moth.)

Wally Darling

The bat everyone knows and loves! Wally is the the sort of- "head person" in the neighborhood. Its rumored that Home speaks directly to him... But all he wants is for his neighbors to stop disappearing. Don't mind the fact he can't keep his hair clean!

(Demiboy, He/They. Panromantic Demisexual. Northern Ghost Bat.)

Julie Joyful

Sally and Shade's best friend! There's not much to say about her now that she's gone missing...

(Genderfluid, Any/All. Biromantic Asexual. Pygmy Raccoon.)

Eddie Dear

The only neighbor permitted to go to the real world! He delivers fan mail all around and is all about kind soul! Stop him for a chat and you're guaranteed to get to hear about his spouse, Frank, and their adopted son, Atlas.

(Cismale, he/him. Gay. Greater Mastiff Bat.)

Howdy Pillar

The owner of the bugdega. Howdy lives with his best friend, Poppy Partridge. Despite the two being very different species, they really make it work! He has a bad habit of giving people he's close with 100% off at his store... Which is everyone that lives in Home.

(Transmasc, he/him. Demiromantic Asexual. Luna Moth.)

Barnaby Beagle

I wouldn't necessarily call this Coyote a Beagle! His ears are permanently floppy due to having an erectile ear dysfunction. He's Wally's best friend and a good person to laugh with when times are tough! He's been doing a lot of comforting ever since Julie went missing...

Frank Frankly

The enby who enjoys studying bugs back at it again! They tend to keep to themself, studying their bugs with quiet fascination. They've been trying to convince Eddie to take them and Atlas on one of his mail trips! Still no luck, though. Eddie keeps saying it's too risky, for whatever reason...

(Non-Binary, they/them. Achillean. Hawaiian Hoary Bat.)

Sally will be in the next post!!!

Taglist: @badmufz1ns, @maraaxdeathnote, @fwunnfetti

As a Ler:

I want to start out by saying that I definitely see Hermes as being a switch! Atleast 60-40 on the scales, though the percentages change out a lot depending on his mood.

Some days he's more of a ler, pestering both mortals and immortals alike, an others he's more of a lee who just wants to enjoy a good laugh himself!

When he is in a ler mood though? He's definitely a major teaser. He gets a real kick out of seeing the wide variety of reactions he can get out of different people, and it never fails to amuse him how unique they all are.

Shy types who tend to curl up or cover their faces? Adorable. Prideful types who cope with the embarrassment by fighting back or arguing? Hilarious. Hermes enjoys it all.

I have a headcanon that whenever he's particularly bored and away from Olympus, he likes to play tricks on mortals, both tickly and not, and he especially loves to mess with his descendants.

After formally revealing himself to Oddyseus during the incident with Circe, it wasn't an uncommon thing for the trickster god to drop in on his ship and mess with him and his crew.

And once he found out that his dear grandson was ticklish? He might as well have kissed his pride and his peace of mind goodbye.

He makes it a point to know where all of his descendants worst spots are so he can mess with them at the most inconvenient timed possible.

Oddyseus is addressing the crew? A surprise tickle up his spine to make him squeak mid sentence. Telemachus is training with Athena? He'll feel a phantom squeeze to his ribs to make him crumple. There's nothing that Hermes loves more than to play with his beloved mortal kin!

As for his immortal family, he's quite playful with most of them too, though he certainly has his favorites. He especially enjoys messing with Apollo, just like in the good old days when he stole his cows as an infant. He often instigates tickle fights with him, and occasionally Artemis might join in if she feels like it. He likes to mess with his other family members too, but depending on who it is, he might have to make himself scarce for a while afterwards to avoid suffering their wrath...

As far as techniques go, one of his favorite ways to tickle a person is to pick them up into the air while hugging them from behind, letting his head wings flutter across their neck and shoulders.

Overall he's a very playful and chaotic ler, his techniques equal parts sporadic as they are intentional. He's got a real knack for figuring out which techniques gets to an individual the most, and he's not afraid to take full advantage of it either!

As a Lee:

Whenever Hermes is in a lee mood, I absolutely see him as being the type to provoke someone into tickling him.

Not because he's shy about asking, not at all! He simply finds it far more entertaining for himself to push their buttons a little first!

His laugh is super high pitched and funny. That's not even a headcanon either. His laugh is canonically hilarious.

He's definitely a big squirmer! Flailing, kicking, rolling around. He simply cannot be still for it lol.

In the event that he does manage to get away, he's a runner too, but he never actively makes a big effort to actually escape. He's the god of speed after all, so he certainly could if he wanted to, he's just in it for the love of the chase!

As much as he loves it, his number one goal is to be as dramatic as possible about it. He'll scream, snort, beg, you name it, and yet he'll still pout if you even dare to stop before he genuinely taps out.

He's got remarkable stamina when it comes to being tickled, but the one place he can't take it? The base of his wings. Both on his ankles and his head.

He's ticklish everywhere, but those are definitely his worst spots! He absolutely cackles when someone gets him there and he low-key loves it.

I like to think Apollo was the one to figure it out, not long after the cow incident when Hermes gifted him the lyre to make amends. They started getting along after that, and little Hermes started spending a lot more time trailing behind his big brother Apollo.

When he was still little, he used to cradle him in lap and tickle the little wings on his feet to make him giggle. Even to this day those moments remain rooted as some of his fondest memories.

Apollo still tickles him quite often despite him being grown. Whenever he's being particularly obnoxious or does something to annoy him? Tickling has become the most common form of punishment for his trickster of a little brother.