afterglows || loki laufeyson [3]

chapter 12

"i can see the good in you, so why shouldn't others?"

third person's pov!

"november's quite a nice time in life, don't you think?", belle said looking up at loki, who smiled down at her.

"it's nice.", loki answered genuinely, "the aesthetic of it all."

"no, no it's something in the air.", she said inhaling to add the dramatic touch.

"i think it's the ground actually.", loki answered, equally sarcastic, crouching down and touching the dirt, "very soil-like."

belle laughed, "i get your point, you silly prince."

"ah, good then, it'd be a shame if the rest of this stroll in the park had to be about dirt.", loki said standing back up.

the sound of children laughing wafted in the air, the playground slowly visible as they got deeper into the park. there were girls taking turns going down the slide, parents seated on benches near the water fountain, and two kids wearing scarves as they dangled from the monkey bars.

a soccer ball rolled its way to belle's direction, and belle stopped it with her foot in time to see a boy with auburn hair, who looked no more than seven years old, walk up to both of them with an apologetic smile, "i'm sorry ma'am, my friends kicked the ball too far."

"it's alright.", belle smiled, kicking the ball back to the kid, "what's your name?"

"mason.", he answered with a smile, before asking with some sort of child-like innocence, "and what about you? and your boyfriend too?"

"my name's belle. and my boyfriend," she said, relishing that small, satisfactory feeling of having said that linger for a moment, before continuing, "his name is loki."

loki's eyes widened at the sound of his name and he watched the child look back at him, with furrowed brows. this was the first time in a while that belle's introduced loki by his true name to anyone.

mason couldn't recognise loki of course, thanks to the charm. to mason, this man standing in front of him was a completely different man who had the same name as loki. that's how the charm worked, unless loki lifted the charm effect on said person, like he did with aunt liza and cole.

"loki like the man who attacked new york 3 years ago?", mason asked warily, but not afraid, "my mom said he was a bad man."

belle noticed how loki seemed to stiffen a bit by that statement, and she felt bad. she interlocked their hands together and gave his hand a small squeeze. 

"is he really?", belle said curiously, "maybe he's sorry for what he did."

"he is?", the kid's blue eyes sparkled a bit, and it was then the both of them realised how much the world didn't know much of the true version of what happened that day. there had been rumours that loki was mind-controlled but it seems that is all that they ended up as, rumours.

"he's very sorry, right love?", belle asked slowly, making loki smile hesitantly, "yes, well...there isn't a day that passes that he doesn't regret all the things he did that day."

"if he regrets what he did now, then what made him do it in the first place?", mason asked confused.

"he had to.", loki answered carefully, "everyone makes mistakes, mason, and he- he was stuck on the wrong path back then."

"is he back on the right one now?", mason asked, full of hope.

loki nodded in response, "someone brought him back to the right path, and now she takes good care of him and makes sure he stays on that path."

"i guess he isn't so bad then.", mason thoughtfully concluded, "i think he was a bit lost, and that woman found him."

loki's gaze softened, "i think you're smart at wording things, mason."

"thank you.", he answered, beaming at the compliment, "if you happen to see the real mr loki, can you- can you tell him that i think he's brave for doing the right thing?"

"i'm sure he'll be blessed to know that.", loki said with a genuine smile, his focus suddenly turning elsewhere, "ah well, it seems we've kept you from your friends for too long."

mason glanced back, waving to his friends for a while, before turning back to loki and belle, "bye! so sorry again about the ball."

"bye, mason. it's really no problem at all.", belle replied, as the boy smiled back before returning back to his friends, kicking the ball away with him.

"i hope you don't mind.", belle quickly apologized as she looked up to loki, "i'm sorry if you were uncomfo-"

"darling, it's alright.", loki replied, "thank you for somewhat making me look good."

"i just think that more people should know you aren't so bad.", belle said, "i can see the good in you, so why shouldn't others?"

he held her gaze for a while, thinking how beautiful she is when determined, how lovely she looked right now.

loki moved forwards and hugged belle, burying his face in her hair, her vanilla-scented hair. he hugged her so tightly.

he didn't know how it started, how he fell this hard in love (where it once sounded like an impossible thing), how he found someone so perfect and to have her be his own lover.

"mine.", he mumbled into her hair, as her hands held onto the sleeves of his jacket.

she didn't say anything for awhile, before quietly, shyly she whispered, "yours."

author's note:

i'm so sorry about my sudden disappearance, while i want to add some bizarre reason why i have been gone, the only reason i do have is the fact i've been catching up on the lunar chronicles series and had barely enough time to write. 

i'm not exactly saying my updates might get back to normal but i'll publish as much chapters as i am able to at the time<3 i am still on holiday after all and christmas is coming up so fast too. 

 extra note, i cried so bad on today's episode of hawkeye. marvel pls stop bringing me into instant tears everytime someone mentions nat- IT'S NOT COOL PICKING ON MY FEELINGS MARVEL >:/