Loki X Reader One-Shots [SLOW UPDATES]

#44: Come In, Come In, Little Henry Lee

I want to start by saying that I have no idea what this is. I was casually watching 'Murdoch Mysteries' (Canadian crime show set in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era-highly recommended. Available to watch safely for free on CBC, using a VPN if you're not Canadian), and then that episode happened, and this really creepy girl sang a variant (pun intended) of 'Henry Lee,' a traditional folk song dating back to the 18th century, and idk, I was inspired.

There are other variants of the song by artists like Nick Cave and Dick Justice as well, though that from the series I mentioned is the most fitting for this story.

Also, the reader (aka you) doesn't really have an active role in this... So yeah, I'm not sure whether this can be considered an imagine, but well.

✨ Enjoy ✨

Published on June 2022.

...

Henry Lee was the kind of driver that drives carefully, less because he didn't like speeding and more because he had terrible navigation skills, and getting lost was the easiest thing in the world for him. He usually was lucky--his carefulness was efficient, and when it wasn't, Google Maps helped. That day, though, he was not lucky; he managed to lose himself in the middle of nowhere with zero signal, therefore no Google Maps to come to his rescue. No phone to call Y/N to tell her that he was all right and just got lost again, so maybe he would be late-taking some time to figure things out.

It was dark, very dark. Even though he had no idea where he was going, Henry kept driving, wishing he would find a house somewhere along the way, a hope that diminished as he kept driving along empty roads. That's it-I'm going to die of famine or dehydration in this hell of a place, he thought, possibly being a tad more overdramatic than necessary, as he turned the wheel. And then, as he was about to lose all hope, he saw a small house in the distance, with lights on and smoke coming out of the chimney. Sighing in relief, he pulled up in front of the house and got out of his car.

He had been driving for so long that he wasn't sure how far from the city he was or whether the stranger living in the house would know the way, so he just knocked on the door, hoping they would help him.

He heard steps from inside, but nobody came to the door. As Henry glanced at the window, he thought he saw the curtains move, and even the shadow of a hand. It's late, of course, they won't open the door to a stranger. He knocked again, and this time, the sound of steps came closer, and seconds later, the door cracked open just enough to reveal a man's face; the blue-green eyes looking down at him filled him with an unfamiliar sense of affinity and disquietude as the stranger's thin lips parted, and he spoke in a low voice with a British accent.

"How could I help you?"

Henry found himself at a loss for words, and he fumbled through his mind to find something to say. "O-oh, I just... I, eh, I got lost, and I have been wandering for hours. I wished you could help me find my way back to the city."

The stranger narrowed his eyes as he listened to what he said, weighing his words. "Of course," he said then. "Please, come in, you must be drained."

Henry would refuse--all he needed was directions, after all, and he would rest when he would be back home with Y/N--but as he was about to speak, the stranger opened the door, and his body came into full view, causing him man to stop before he had even started. There was something about him; maybe it was his piercing eyes that held that enigmatic gaze; maybe it was the long black hair that fell on his shoulders neatly, the loose dark tendrils framing his face; maybe it was the way he spoke or the way he stood; maybe it was all that or none at all. One thing was for sure: whatever it was, Henry found himself unable to refuse the request the man made. He stepped in, and the stranger's gaze followed him.