When Loki was taken by the TVA, he is forced to watch a montage of what could've been his future. In that montage, he finds out that he will fall in love with a young Midgardian woman, who he would've met a year after the Battle of New York.
And thi...
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"So, why did you try to conquer Earth?"
"Wanda!" Anya scolds with a horrified tone, dropping her utensils on the table.
"What?" Wanda frowns, shrugging. "I wasn't around when he did, and we met a year later. When I asked him that before, he didn't answer." She pauses. "But I heard it was terrifying to be in New York at the time. You scared a lot of people."
"Oh, my God." Anya palms her forehead.
Loki forces a chuckle as he nods. "No, it's fine. Um... I do owe you answers since I am the intruder here."
"You're not intruding at all," Anya shakes her head, smiling a bit.
"Technically, he kind of is intruding. He came here against our will."
Anya gives Wanda a scolding look.
Loki nods in appreciation, and he glances at Wanda's expectant gaze. "My brother would have been King of Asgard at the time,"
"And... you wanted to be King of Earth."
Loki presses his lips together. "Something like that."
Anya frowns, and it gave Loki another clue. Of course, it was nothing like what he told Wanda. Loki must have told Anya the truth behind his attempt at conquering of Earth. It was because he wanted to be viewed as his brother's equal.
After their meal, Loki offered to help with cleaning up. He never did that before, since he grew up as a prince, but right now, he isn't on Asgard. He will never be on Asgard anymore, and technically, he is no longer a prince.
And they were generous enough to let him stay there, so it was the least he could do. He did notice the disbelief across the two women's eyes though. Loki realizes that he does like to surprise them.
Wanda goes to her room and Anya takes Loki to a spare bedroom that has never been used. Anya offered to clean it up, but Loki chants an incantation under his breath and the entire room glows green before turning back to normal.
Anya swipes a finger across the window and sees that it's spotless. She chuckles. "You're a natural housemaid."
Loki suppresses a grin. "I don't want you to go through the trouble of cleaning up after me."
"Oh, please. It used to be all that I did." Anya chuckles and faces him again.
They stand in the middle of the dimly lit bedroom, and the yellow hue from the warm lamp illuminates half of her face. Loki watches her, trying to grasp the fact that he was supposedly "in love" with this human.
Anya's green eyes are shimmering with unshed tears, and Loki catches sight of the way her chin wobbles a bit.
Before Loki could ask what is wrong, Anya swallows thickly. "This is, um... this is going to sound stupid, but..." she trails off before shaking her head. "Never mind, it's so dumb." Anya mutters before moving past him to leave the room.
Loki frowns and subtly blocks her way to stop her. "What is it?"
Anya looks up to him, tears lining her eyes. "Can I just... can I hug you?" Her voice breaks, and she sniffles. Loki feels something tug at his chest. "Even just for a minute? A few seconds? Can I just—"
She barely finishes her sentence as Loki steps forward and gently wraps his arms around her. Anya lets out a shaky breath as she closes her eyes, tears flowing from the corner of her eyes as she reaches up to grasp his back.
Then, she couldn't help the soft and quiet sobs that tore away from her throat and chest. Her fist grips the shirt he wears like it was her life line. Loki can feel the utter desperation come from this woman's frail body.
As she continues to sob on his shoulder, Loki notices the flickering until they completely went out. The sudden darkness makes Anya tense a bit, and she pulls away from the embrace, looking a bit embarrassed.
"S-Sorry, I just... I should probably check those out."
Loki shakes his head, and his arms are still slightly open. "It's alright. Here," he waves his hand and the bulbs come back to life. He flashes her a small smile. "Good as new."
Anya chuckles weakly, wiping her tears and nose. "This house is practically falling apart, so watch out for faulty lightbulbs."
Loki frowns. "But I thought that is because..." Loki feels suspicious. Anya does not seem like she wants to discuss her abilities with him.
"Sorry for being emotional. I'm not usually like this."
He wanted to tell her that he didn't mind. That she can embrace him for as many times as she wants. Still, he didn't want to sound desperate and touch-starved... and strange. So, he nods. "It's alright."
"Sorry for making this weird."
"You didn't. Stop apologizing, Anya."
At the sound of him saying her name, Anya bites her lip, and Loki catches himself staring at her mouth. "Um... your shirt."
He glances at his shoulder and finds a wet patch of tears on him. He suppresses a chuckle as he rolls his shoulder, a green glow arriving to make the patch disappear.
Anya sighs in relief, and Loki finds it odd how she still looks pretty despite the puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. No person usually looks nice to look at when they are in that state.
"Okay, well... there are clothes are in the closet. Um... goodnight, Loki." Anya quickly says before she turns to leave.
"Good... night, Anya. Okay." Loki barely finishes his sentence before Anya shuts the door. "Huh." He stares at the door thoughtfully.
Loki makes his way to the closet, opening it to see the clothes. All of them are of Midgard, and when he inhales the scent of the shirts, it seems that he has worn them before. The scent wouldn't be evident to human senses, but to Loki, he can tell that these clothes were his. Anya kept his clothes.
He pulls out some soft pants and a shirt, using his magic to replace his current clothes with the ones from the closet. They are surprisingly comfortable. More comfortable than Asgardian sleeping clothes, which is a bit strange. Asgard is supposed to be better than Midgard at every aspect.
As Anya walks to her room, Wanda's door opens. Anya lets out a shaky sigh and goes to Wanda. As soon as the door is closed, Wanda casts a protection spell over the room to prevent anyone else from hearing anything.
Anya puts her hands on her own hips. "I don't buy it."
