Hell or High Water (#Wattys2016)

•Away From All Of Reality•

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"Well? How did it go?"

"Good. Tom's nightmares seem to have subsided for now."

"You told them the story of how we met again, didn't you?"

Charlie shrugged, brushing her hair before and getting ready for dinner, having already slipped into a pair of sweats and a tank as soon they came back from sightseeing.

"What can I say, our children are weird. I excluded the racy parts of course."

Loki hummed in agreement, drying his hair from the much-deserved shower, and hitching up the edge of the towel that started to slip below his waist. Not that she was complaining, however...

They finally had some time off and were vacationing in Dubai, with Charlie busy running a design buisness from home and Loki -

Actually, it could only be summed up in so many words.

She still isn't sure what he does, simply that it's located at Stark Industries and involves working with Holograms - the rest is strictly confidental. Though, she was happy when Loki said that he accepted the job, at least they could have stabilty for a while until Asgard was ready to accept that Loki didn't have a hand in the disappearance of Odin. He hardly got along with Tony on a friendship level, but they understood that what they were working to create would surpass any arguments and benefit the human race greatly - while partnering with Japan only helped matters, not to mention morale.

The most difficult part was allowing Midgard to gradually accept him.

Charlie reasoned that was a near impossible feat, on his first day back everyone avoided him like the plague. As months past, people begin to see that he was taking the necessary steps to redeem himself by taking on various projects around New York and several other places he once help destroy. But things would never be the same, as much as Tony and Steve worked to ensure the people that the events of New York would not happen again and that his ways were indeed changed, Loki can forget ever being fully trusted in public.

At the present moment, the futuristic landscape allowed them to spend time and bond as a family - emotionally detached as Loki is, it was a start. From visiting the Burj Khalifa to the Miracle Garden, it was a site to behold and one none of them would forget, notably when Loki commented a week earlier that Midgard 'rarely had much to offer'. Charlie was having a ball at making him eat his words.

One thing Loki isn't completely clueless to is Migardian technolgy, ignoring the fact that he broke five iPhones and threw eight Laptops that were deemed 'unworthy' after several forced upgrades, it was just that they hated him. They probably waited until he slept and synced their little LCD screens to alert one another whenever he thought of an upgrade.

Despite that, the technology on Migard was notoriously slow, especially by Asgardian standards. He often expressed his concern that Mortals would end up damning the human race before they use technology to its full compacity. Charlie thought this was rather harsh, then again isn't that what he's known for?

"I merely have hope in the next generation," Loki was saying, he sat the latest version of an iPhone down and started shifting through clothes for work in the closet. "As this one is selfishly engrossed in their texting, selfie-ing, and trend setting," He grumbled, Charlie faught to hold in a mad cackle that threaten to break the serious tone of this conversation completely.

Hee hee! He's so old fashioned! Oh boy, I'll never talk about Steve again. Speaking of, I hope he wasn't intemidated too much at dinner yesterday, Loki can be so damn intense at times and - oh is he still yammering? Whoops, better pretend I'm listening!

"Mortals are entirely too obssessed with who notices them, their favorite celebrity, and how to recieve more 'likes'. It's unsettling."

Charlie snickered. He was beginning to sound a lot like a grandparent. Seriously. She felt a ping of guilt that her own grandparents wouldn't see her or their grandchildren, the result of being born just a tad too late in life she guessed, considering most of her family were older than her by several years - at least Frigga got to see them before that awful buisness with the Dark Elves.

Whenever she asked if he'd spoken to Thor since the incident of the Dark Elves, Loki only sighed. Since Odin's apparent 'death', nothing had been the same in Asgard, given Loki was arguably the last to see him. He never discussed it, and she never asked again, it was almost a silent agreement bewteen them to not speak of it. There was nothing she could do about any of it except wait.

His commentary was cut short by a knock on the door, Charlie hoped it was room service, since she had ate nothing since breakfast. He pointed to his towel and shrugged, she stuck out her tongue and threw a pillow. He wondered if women in general got a kick at throwing things. Upon opening the door, however, she found no one there.

"Funny, Loki," She yelled, thinking him to be in on this trick.

"That's not me." He quirked a brow, suddenly appearing behind her - not startled since she was used to this behavior by now. He gestured towards the floor and she followed his gaze.

"What's this?"

Charlie picked up a small leather pouch hanging on the doorknob. She went to open it but was interrupted by Loki plucking it from her hands.

"Hey!"

"It could be dangerous," He held it out of her reach playfully, while he may be taller, she wasn't above poking him until he relented - prefferably when 'uncle' was stated. No one knew how ticklish he is, which he made undoubtedbly sure of.

"Chivalry isn't dead I see."

"You bloody luntic," He said after calming down. "I was trying to help!"

"Too slow!" She exclaimed, removing the item out of the pouch and held up what she thought to be a necklace.

"Is this what I think it is?"

"An Amulet. Udjat, The Eye of Horus, or Ra, to be specific. It symbolizes health and protection."

It was attatched to a single gold chain, she ran a thumb over the ancient carving. The amulet itself was light and the texture smooth, but she felt an indescribable force imitating from it.

"Why do you think someone left it? Here of all places."

"No idea, perhaps they have the wrong room. Is there anything with it?"

She looked inside the little bag and found a white card at the bottom, there were words in what she assumed to be Arabic until Loki translated it .

"Use it wisely."

"Huh. Any idea who it's from?"

"Or where. This is one odd housewarming gift - though I'm curious now. How did they find us in Dubai anyway?"

"I don't think it was by accident, Loki, look at this," Charlie turned the card over, her face falling.

"To Anya."



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A/N: I never did an ambiguous ending before, so here's to that. Hm, wonder what else they could possibly get up to?....

All my sap-happy 'thank you's' are in the next chapter! xD