It always seemed like the universe had some major plan for Loki’s future. One where he was destined for anything other than knowing what love was like.

Love. Such a simple thing, and yet somehow impossibly complicated. Loki yearned for it more than most. He knew the tenderness of a mother’s love through Frigga, in the quiet hours they spent practicing magic together. Those lessons belonged solely to them. Since Thor had Odin to guide him, Frigga had made certain she would be that same steady light for her boy.

But the breathless kind of love, the kind that sent his heart hammering against his ribs and filled his stomach with butterflies? That, he had only ever known because of you.

Romantic love, however, did not strike him the moment he met you. Quite the opposite.

You annoyed him.

You were this sweet, poised little girl everyone thought highly of, yet behind the facade was a scheming troublemaker who felt the need to make his life a living hell. A persistent little thorn in his side, forever disrupting his peace and challenging his patience.

At least that’s how Loki viewed it. Yet troublesome within children goes both ways, especially once his mother taught him how to create illusions and transformation enchantments.

All intended for perfectly reasonable purposes, of course. It wasn’t as though he planned to use his new tricks on just anyone.

One person in particular, perhaps. But certainly not anyone.

When one of you pushed, the other pushed harder and far more ruthlessly.

The first time you encountered Loki in another form was entirely unexpected, yet perfectly expected of him.

Your books were nestled in the crook of your arm and pressed firmly against your chest as you wandered through the palace. Your dress had been fitted precisely to your measurements, while your hair was, as your mother so delicately phrased it, as improper as it could possibly be.

You had merely shrugged off her remarks before venturing out in search of…well, who knew what?

Trouble, most likely. Whether you would find yourself in it or drag someone else along remained to be seen.

As you often did, you wandered through Asgard, sometimes straying as far as the forest, where you could lose yourself among the towering trunks. You liked to watch the leaves dance whenever the wind caught them, swaying whichever way it chose to carry them. There was something peaceful about it, something freeing.

But today, your thoughts refused to wander about them.

Instead, you found yourself wondering what the second prince of Asgard might be doing at that very moment.

You held your books close as you followed the pathways leading toward the palace. You were a friend of the young prince, a position you had rightfully claimed for yourself and refused to allow anyone, least of all Loki, to question. Whenever he saw you approaching, he would roll his eyes as though your presence were some terrible inconvenience. Yet the faint amusement tugging at his lips betrayed him every time.

Thor and the young Warriors Three noticed it too, of course. And they never missed an opportunity to torment him for it.

“Look, Loki! It’s your girlfriend!” Thor would call, his boyish voice dripping with mockery. “Oh, wait. It’s only Y/N.”

He always placed a particularly childish emphasis on your name, as though merely speaking it proved his point. The exaggerated kissing noises from the young Warriors Three did little to improve Loki’s mood.

If anything, the green that would gather at his fingertips always suggested they ought to start running.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Loki would respond with a shove. Shutting up his brother and the three that followed. He only wanted to play with Thor and his friends, but as a result, they would end up mocking and laughing at the poor boy. Loki would have to find his own fun elsewhere. Anywhere, where he wouldn’t be derided and belittled. That elsewhere he always longed for, funny enough, he found it within you.

To Loki’s reluctant admission, you were somewhat tolerable on most days.

Most days.

Safe to say he was stuck with your everlasting presence.

Your attention had been taken by an all-too-familiar hissing sound. The halt in your step and the tilt of your head only added to the recognition. You slowly turned around to face the scaly creature, not a foot more before your feet.

The hissing only increased, and your patience was running on a thin line. You survey the way the snake flattens its head and puffs up to make itself look more intimidating.

Was this really the best he could do?

Your squared shoulders sagged when the snake’s efforts failed to frighten you. Your gaze drifted toward a rock lying just within reach, and you shook your head, disappointed that the situation had come to this. You bent to retrieve it before straightening once more, raising your brows at the creature’s attempt to appear threatening. You were not impressed.

Ignoring the voice in your head insisting that what you were about to do was both terribly ill-advised and profoundly stupid, you hurled the rock just as the snake slithered closer, its fangs bared dangerously near your ankle. The creature recoiled with a pained hiss. Then it began spewing curses, along with several colorful variations of words your parents would never tolerate being repeated.

You winced.

Perhaps ordinary snakes did not possess such extensive vocabularies.

“You’ve gone mental!” Loki transforms back into himself. His hand was already pressed up against his forehead. A bruise was beginning to paint his fair skin. 

“Oh, look. It was only you.” You offered him your sweetest smile and extended a hand to help him to his feet. Loki slapped it away. A scowl settled over his otherwise soft features as he pushed himself upright, wishing for nothing more than to wipe that insufferable smile from your face.

So he did.

Loki brushed aside the lingering pain and climbed to his feet. His gaze fell upon the books cradled in your arms, and the retaliation he devised was both instantaneous and deliberate. He glanced once at your perfectly composed expression before letting his actions speak louder than words ever could. He slammed both hands down upon the books.

You flinched as they tumbled from your grasp and struck the cobblestones with several heavy thuds. Some fell open upon impact, their brown-gold pages creasing beneath them and bending at awkward angles. Your wince did not escape him. Loki straightened and waited expectantly, certain you would react with the same outrage he had shown after being struck with the pebble. Yet as the silence stretched between you, his patience began to wear thin.

You refused to grant him the satisfaction of seeing your displeasure. Instead, you merely scoffed.

“That wasn’t very nice.” You pouted, bending down to pick the books up. You wiped away the dirt that collected on them and adjusted them back in your arms.

“So was throwing a pebble at me!” He huffed.

“Honestly…I don’t know why you waste your time being an animal.”

“Reptile!” His fists curled at his sides. Sick of your taunts.

“Reptile!” You mocked. “Well, I’d be a bird!” You stuck your tongue out at him. His brows furrowed with disdain.

“What on earth for?” He looked at you, confused.

“To fly away from you!” You huffed, then shoved your shoulder into the dimwit, stopping briefly when you remembered your reason for needing to find him. Your head was thrown back, eyes meeting the back of your skull as you let out a groan.

You looked down at the pile of books you carried. Letting your thumb softly caress over the covers. Tracing over the indents of the labeling. A pout now dawning on your face. Frustration was all you felt. The interaction you had planned out in your head wasn’t supposed to happen like this. It was meant to be a somewhat pleasant greeting. But alas, you thought it’d be humorous to throw a pebble at him, which turned out not to work in your favor. It only made for another day where you two bickered at each other.

A mixture of laughs coming from the far end of the bridge made you both look up. Thor and his friends were making their way over to you two. You claimed your position alongside the prince, waiting for whatever torment the blonde had for you two today. Thor always seemed to know how to make you and Loki feel unwanted and ostracized.

Pointing, prodding, poking fun where he knew would hurt. Sometimes he and the warrior three would even go as far as to pull at your hair or on your gowns. There presence’s was enough for you and Loki’s brave demeanors to falter. Even if Thor didn’t realize the harm he was doing with every jab of his finger and every spit of careless insults he threw at you…it hurt. It hurt you deeply.

“Well, well, what a coincidence finding both of you together.” Thor’s eyes jumped back and forth. Loki spared you a sideways glance, his eyes falling under the means of his brother. “What is this? Trouble in paradise? Do I sense a quarrel between the love birds?” Thor gestured to the way you stood a few feet apart.

“We’re not love birds!” Your features hardened. Your hands were clutching the books you held, tighter to you. Your books were even more compromised than they had been with Loki. Loki caught Thor’s smirk, then looked away again. Not wanting to give him any satisfaction that he was winning. That he held power over you two because he didn’t.

“Then why do you spend so much time together? That sounds like two people in love to me.” He rebutted.

“We’re friends!” You denied. 

“No, you’re his girlfriend. An annoying one!” Sif, who had joined the boys, stepped forward, shoving your smaller frame back. You miscalculated your footing, tripping over a crack on the ground. The pavement collided with your back roughly.

A hiss falls clear in Loki’s ears. He stands tall this time, eyes flit back and forth between the four before him, and your pain-ridden face, your books once again befriending the pavement.

A few more creases and folds would adorn your well-kept books—well, not so well-kept anymore.

Watching a tear spill down your cheek was the last straw. A green hue flashed before you, causing you to squint. The scaly creature overtook Loki’s previous human form. Your heart rate spiked as you caught his eyes fixated on you for a brief moment before releasing a spine-tingling hiss towards the four warriors.

Though it did nothing to startle them. It only made them laugh out loud at him once more. Mocking his attempts to put his foot down. You continued to watch as he shifted back, his shoulders falling in the process.

They walked away eventually, throwing a sack back and forth to each other. Loki only bowed his head. His broken demeanor caused a spring of emotions to reel within you. He kicked the pebble you threw at him.

“Would you really fly away from me?” He muttered, low, but enough for you to hear.

“No.” You shook your head. “I quite enjoy throwing pebbles at you.” A giggle emitted from your chest.

“I do not...it hurts.” He frowned, but seeing a smile spread across his face

“Sorry...” You bit your lip and fiddled with the spines of the books.

“What are those?” Loki walked up to you.

“Oh, my mother found them…” You perked up. “Says they’re ancient!”

“Like my father?”

“Even more so!” A smile broke out on your face. You tugged his hand and ran. The way to the gardens was all too familiar. You kept running until you plopped down at your designated spot that you and Loki found yourselves at. You placed the books down. Flipping them open much too eagerly. You just about gasped.

Astrology.

“Stars?” Loki leaned forward, wanting to get a closer look. “My mother tells me stories. Of galaxies, and universes, and of the nine realms which Father rules over!”

You, on the other hand, liked the pictures displayed. Not that it didn’t fascinate you, of course, but your heart wasn’t in it as much as Loki’s was. You looked over at him. His boyish smile was directed at the book you brought.

“You can borrow it… if you’d like.”

“Wouldn’t you want to read it first?” He stared up at you, shocked you’d suggest it at all. He loved books. That’s all his nose was ever stuck in when he wasn't off being mischievous.

“No…you can read it. I’ll let mother know.” You smiled, pushing the book towards him. “Truce…for the pebble.” You stuck your pinky out.

“For the pebble!” He smiled at you. He didn’t think he’d ever have any friends, yet he got to call you his. Much to his agreement, of course…since you know, you made yourself his only friend.

“Loki!” The voice of the Allmother cut your book reading to an end. You hurriedly picked up your other books, while Loki hid the book behind his back. Both of you stood next to one another as Frigga rounded the corner of the hedges.

“Ah, there you are, my darling! Why hello there, Y/n.” His mother greeted you warmly. You bowed your head and greeted her.

“Hello, Queen Frigga.”

“Hello, Mother.”

“Not getting into trouble again, are we?” Her smirk told you she was onto you two.

“No!” You both quickly shook your heads.

Without a break of sweat, the book hidden behind Loki’s back was now carefully in the hands of his mother. She began flipping through the books out of curiosity.

“Astrology now?” She hummed in delight. Her eyes crinkled over the crisp, smooth pages, her eyes darting back and forth between you and Loki.

“Y/n, let me borrow it.”

“That was kind of you, dear.”

You smiled and bowed your head timidly.

≡ INDEX CHAPTER LIST: 

‣ CHAPTER 1: BARDO MANSPLAINING & BULLIES ‣ CHAPTER 2: FORGOTTEN ESSAYS & FADED MEMORIES ‣ CHAPTER 3: ECHOES & EXPECTATIONS ‣ CHAPTER 4: MISSED CALLS & MISSING GIRLS ‣ CHAPTER 5: DATES & DREADED TRUTHS ‣ CHAPTER 6: COLD & CRUEL TIMINGS ‣ CHAPTER 7: SECRETS & SLEEPLESS NIGHTS ‣ CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS & CONFESSIONS ‣ CHAPTER 9: HEARTACHES & HOPE ‣ CHAPTER 10: ALMOSTS & AFTERMATHS

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