Cleave | Loki x Reader

• six - for you •

Present day, Midgard

Y/n

'With Thor gone, we could be together.'

His promises, his threats and delusions, reverberate around my mind as my gaze falls blankly on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed by the door. The door Selvig has vanished behind approximately fifteen minutes ago.
Gods, how my body aches.
I'm certain it's but a restless ache born of my traitorous mind. One second it begs me to have faith in Loki's delusions; the next, it urges me to seize action and punch the fuck out of him.
If there were any path back to Asgard I bet that right now, I would do just that.

'No more thrones, no more prophecies.'

Again, for what feels like the hundredth time, I reach out with my seiðr, sending a wave across the void, my voice echoing in desperate call to Heimdall.
I can feel his energy, far-off but perceptible.

'I'm doing this for us, for our future.'

And suddenly, I dare not lie to myself any longer. Of course Loki has manipulated the Gate-Keeper. Worse, perhaps.
I bite down hard on my own tongue - the thought repulsive in the way it holds possibility.
No. Loki could never, would never.

'I can make you see.'

But then again... The Odinforce could. Hence, he now could.

'I will make you see.'

And with nothing but a feigned benevolent gaze thrown over his stiff shoulder, this variant - I imagine that he would.
Feigned to a degree he might not even see it himself.
The Trickster had met his match and, spectacularly so, tricked it. But he had won. Against his own self.
And what this Trickster now seeks is to make us all see. In whatever way or form possible.

I'm ripped from my horrid musings the second I catch long wet strands of golden hair flowing in the distance. Thor stomps down the metal staircase with Selvig in tow.
Even from afar, high up on that hill Jane and I had stood only yesterday, I am able to see the grave expression adorning the Crown Prince's features. Somber, brows furrowed so deeply they cast a shadowy valley between them, his gaze distant.
I swallow against the urge to rush at his side, forcing myself to wait for the two men to come instead. Jane and Darcy had stayed behind at the headquarters so as to attract as little attention as possible. No one had dared suggest I do the same.
But now that I was alone and shaken and in pain after Loki's projection had found me here, I wish I'd have stayed with them.

Finally, when Thor and Selvig are far enough from the agents, I allow myself to let go, to rush forward and fold myself into Thor's broad chest. My arms wrap around him tightly.
'Thank the Norns, you're unharmed! I-I'm so sorry I couldn't be there with you, I-'
Thor's hands move gently to cradle the sides of my neck, sweeping a few damp strands of wild hair back behind my ear. 'Hush, skæra mín. It's all perfectly fine. They merely asked me a few questions I wouldn't understand even a single word of.' He gives a small, weary smile.
'Bu-but Mjölnir- You couldn't- and I couldn't- Now we can't-'
I take in a sharp, steadying breath as my head begins to feel dizzy. 'We're stuck. And I couldn't be there for you, when-'
When it had dawned on you just who was responsible for your fate, I finished in the gruelling privacy of my shattered head.
I could only try at imagining Thor's state of emotions the moment he realised he was now deemed unworthy of the mighty weapon.
I had witnessed the pain in his roar - felt it in the very marrow of my bones - when he had to accept the hate his brother held for him.

'Y/n, I felt you there in the mud. I knew you to be near. Do not dare think I could ever feel abandoned by you. I know I have your back, as I vow to you that you have mine.'
His words settle into me, melting away the tightness in my chest. He presses his forehead to mine, his hands steady around my own trembling ones. In seconds, the tremors subside. 'Thank you,' I whisper, my voice betraying me as it breaks.
For now, I will hold my tongue on my encounter with Loki's apparition. I can see the toll this ordeal has taken on Thor - he needs rest, not more heartbreak.
But before I can gather any thoughts on my next words, Selvig's voice slices through the moment.
'Sorry to break this up, but we'd better get a move on, before those suits puzzle one and one together.'
Thor breaks away, our proximity all of a sudden weighting uncomfortably on my shoulders and thickening the air. Clearing his throat, he faces Selvig, his voice deep and rusty as he asks, 'Where are we going?'
Striding ahead without a backward glance, Selvig simply grunts, 'To get a drink.'