REVERE

the kiss, she treasures, as needy for his affection as ever she has been and just a little less physically receptive to it, through no fault of her own, but still. a faint pink graces her cheeks, warm and utterly for him.

“i should begin sitting the throne with you,” she says, knowing full well she’s neglected her duties in that respect, never attending court or meetings and indulging her own fancies which victor’s been all too happy to allow. but she is queen; it’s time to take that more seriously. “i can spin something up to wear today. we’ll make a good show of it.”

“I will love to see you there, on a throne beside me. For the first time, our people will see us united, King and Queen, and for that moment to be the announcing of an heir? It will all people will talk about for months to come.”

“it could never be a secret from the one person i don’t want to know. there’s no use in trying to hide it.” the looming fear, her father—but victor has already sworn to protect her, and loki is one of precious few people who know what power he truly has. if she couldn’t trust him to keep her safe, she never would have been here, his wife, the mother of his child.

but not only that. something more important, too, she feels, sitting up again, green gaze serious upon his face, hands securely within his. “the people of latveria need to know that the lineage of their king is secure. they need to know that our—our family—will be here to defend them. i am…”

she takes a moment to breathe, looking down between them to their clasped hands momentarily before her jaw seems to set with some resolve. fierce, her eyes when she lifts her chin proudly. “i am the queen of latveria. the child i carry will safeguard our country, our people one day. these are glad tidings. we should make an announcement straight away.”

The smile that lit his face was like the sun coming up over the peaks, bright and warm. He leaned in again and turned her face, giving her a kiss, soft but passionate. 

Victor pulled away and leaned his less scarred cheek against her shoulder. 

her eyes narrow briefly in thought, but loki finds it easy enough to concede the fact that any tailor victor trusts enough to be his personal tailor is probably quite good, and has a fair shot at not leaving her looking like some small, frumpy balloon.

loki pulls her other leg up from the floor to the bed, shifts herself a little closer to victor til she can put her head on his shoulder, run a few light kisses over his collarbone. “i suppose you ought to make an announcement soon, hm? an heir on the way. can’t keep it hushed up forever, not with me showing like this. the little wannabe nobles and diplomats have already been talking. i do hear things.”

“Yes, a declaration will need to be made soon. But if you wish to keep things secret, that can be arranged. You’d have to not make public appearances with me for a while, but it is doable.”

as he sits up, loki comes down, a knee on the bed and considerably more time to lower herself than is typical. it’s been a long time since she’s done this, felt this; how very lucky she is to be with victor, or else none of it would be safe, either.

loki lets him kiss her fingers, smiling softly at him, waiting til he’s finished to guide his hand back to her, place it beneath her breasts where the firmer swell of her stomach can be clearly felt. “i got fat,” she says, a note of complaint in her voice which is mostly feigned, but some not. “overnight, i swear. did you notice this happening?”

she’s certain it has been, but for some reason it feels so sudden. “we’ll have to get a seamstress in. a good one. i don’t want a single maternity gown that looks like a maternity gown.”

His lips quirked, scar tissue tugging at the corner of his mouth as he smiled. His thumb rubbed slowly over her stomach, where she’s placed his hand. 

“You’re not fat, Loki, you’re just growing another person and that takes space.” Victor hummed and leaned in, kissing her cheek, his free hand pushing back some of her curls. 

“I will make inquiries as to a seamstress, though my own tailor will want to see what she can do first. She loves a good challenge and ‘maternity dresses that do not look like maternity dresses’ surely would be one.”

Victor let out a world-weary sigh and hefted the much smaller man further into his arms. 

“Yes, but I would greatly prefer if you would not break. Breaking is something that should be avoided, in the future.” He rolled his eyes and grunted as he moved to put Michael onto a nearby table. 

Victor stared out the glass doors of his balcony, in his rooms of his castle. Looking out at his country always filled him with awe-- and made him contemplate things. 

Loki’s words drifted to him, like leaves on a breeze, and he turned, amber eyes boring into her. 

“I certainly hope that that someone is me, my dear.” A wry smile tugged his lips as he moved further into the room, a cool mountain wind fluttering his cape and the curtains. 

“My voice?” He asked, said voice rumbling in his chest like thunder. Warm, calloused hands took hers and a smile curved scarred lips. 

Victor was smiling-- until Mia blasted the air horns. He winced at the sound and shook his head a bit. Once the noise ceased, he cleared his throat. 

“Thank you, all three of you. Valeria, Kamar....Mia.” His brown eyes traced over each one in turn, lingering on the last of the group. 

“You really didn’t have to get me anything, but I am very pleased that you did. It touches my heart that you all think of me in such a way.” He reached for one of the presents, weighing it in his hands.

Victor took her hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles, then moved to her cheek, letting them rest there before making the final trip to her mouth, soft as petals. “Hello, love.” // @trushalodji​

“Tease,” she murmurs against his mouth, grinning into every touch. Her fingers trail through curls, brow resting against his. She stares into amber eyes, releasing tension she had been ignorant to. His magic is like this: It unmakes her, presses her into a kinder shape.

It is a potent magic. He bewitches her by sight alone, strengthens the spell with every touch. When Victor speaks, she is lost. In the grips of his love, she hopes never to be found. Weightless and adoring, she is content to simply be. His magic is dangerous like that. Contentment suits neither of them, however well-earned it might be.

Kissing the marred corner of his mouth, she presses a little spell of her own into him – ever the coquette, everything he stands accused of being. Her dark lashes brush against scarred flesh, gentle as a ghost. 

“Talk to me,” the queen says, and somehow it is not an order. “Where have you been without me?”

He let out a sigh and shrugged, an arm wrapping around her waist to draw her in. She was so small, so thin, compared to him. A wisp of a thing. If she hadn’t proven time and time again that she could and would lift him with ease, one might think her weak. Frail, even.

“Meetings. Many, many meetings. Most of which amounted to nothing, as America is a train wreck constantly. But I did get to see Valeria during my trip to New York and she was very happy about that. Asked when next she could visit me and ‘Auntie Hel’.”

He smiled and kissed her cheek again, lips pressed to her bad side as she’d kissed his.

“Do you think I need your approval?”

she quiets, somewhat. remarkable that she manages to, but what he says offers some small bit of comfort. to raise a child is a privilege loki has never had before, yet victor offers it to her like it is indomitable truth, and if she can’t truly place all her faith in what he can do, then she can trust that he will fight to his last breath to try—and let guilt consume her that he might have to.

“i hope i give you a son,” she whispers, tucking her head down against him and snaking her arms around his waist. maybe it’s too high a goal to aspire to; maybe she dreams of something she cannot have. “i hope i do right by you and this country.”

“It won’t matter to me, son or otherwise. You already do right by me, and my country, just by being my wife and my partner in all things.”