Stars Have Fallen - A Loki Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

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• • •

"I really don't think this is a good idea," Loki stated for probably the tenth time. He stood with his arms crossed in the kitchen as Jane helped Estrial get out baking ingredients.

"It is okay," Estrial insisted with a small smile, "I want to learn."

Jane smirked as she pulled out a sturdy cookie sheet. "What's wrong, Loki?" She began to tease, "afraid you might have another apple juice incident?"

It took all of his strength not to let his embarrassment come out as rage. He frowned instead, asking defensively, "who told you about that?"

"Thor," Jane replied with an amused smile.

Loki squinted his eyes. "Thor wasn't there when it happened," he went in suspiciously, "who told him?"

Jane didn't answer for a moment. Instead, she showed Estrial how to spray the cookie sheet with cooking oil. Once the star got a hang of it, Jane turned back to Loki. She sighed and shrugged. "It really isn't a big deal," she pointed out.

"Tell that to Tony Stark," Loki sneered, looking away from Jane. However, he couldn't help being grateful that she didn't make fun of him the way Stark, and even Steve, did.

"Stark is only trying to make trouble," Thor's booming voice came from behind Loki, "don't let him get to you." Estrial jumped at the loudness of his voice, almost dropping the pan she was spraying. Loki turned to see his brother entering the giant kitchen. "My apologies, Estrial," Thor spoke in a queiter voice, "I forget sometimes how easily startled you are."

"It is okay," Estrial assured softly with a smile of her own.

Thor then proceeded to meet Jane by putting his hands on her waist as she set up ingredients on the island. Jane twisted around in his arms and leaned up to kiss him sweetly. Estrial froze for a moment, mesmorized by this action. She'd never actually seen a kiss up close before. From the galaxies above Asgard, she'd seen plenty shared between lovers as they watched the stars together. But with this one, she could almost feel their souls connect.

Loki rolled his eyes dramatically at the sight, however, turning his head away. As he did this, Tony came into his view. He entered the kitchen just in time to clap his hands together and scold, "come on, not in my kitchen; PDA." Thor and Jane immediately released each other. The God of Thunder chuckled a bit, but Jane looked slightly annoyed as she forced a good-hearted smile.

Loki mouthed a sarcastic 'thank you' to Tony. But Estrial wore a look of utter confusion. "..No one was going to attack," she muttered, nose scrunched in bafflement.

A smirk crept across Loki's face as he recalled what he'd told the star what PDA meant. Stark blinked, obviously unsure how Estrial's statement was relevant. Still, he played along. Raising his eyebrows, he pointed back and forth between Thor and Jane. "Uh, didn't you see that?" He asked the star, "they were totally just attacking each other."

Estrial cocked her head a bit. Was that what was happening? Surely not. Satisfied with the confusion on her face, Tony snickered and proceeded on his way without another word.

"What..?" Jane wondered, shaking her head as she watched Tony leave.

"Not to worry," Loki replied, his mood visibly lifted by the awkward event. He walked over to Estrial and put his hands on her shoulders from behind. "Now, if you're really going to try to bake, I suppose I'll have to help," he told her with a charming grin.

Thor smiled at this, but again chose not to mention the spark he saw growing between his brother and the woman. "Baking," he observed, pausing for a moment. He turned to Jane and asked, "mind if I join as well?"

Jane smiled at him lovingly as she responded, "not at all."

Estrial watched the colors of Jane's emotions change. They became more intense and positive; the star was finally getting a feel for what love looked like. The different kinds were still hard to decipher, but the emotion of love was absolutely astonishing. It was the most beautiful feeling she'd ever seen.

• • •

"I knew this was a bad idea," was all Loki could say as Thor pulled a smoking pan of burned sugar cookies out of Tony's overly-expensive oven. Estrial was waving her hands at the horrid smell, and Jane rushed to open the nearest window in hopes of letting the smoke out. However, the God of Mischief found it hilarious to see Thor in his fluster, with floral oven mitts on his hands and his hair pull back into a bun. He sat the tray on the stove top and tried to wave the smoke toward the opened window.

The first two batches turned out nicely, but Estrial had forgotten to set a timer for the third. "I-I am sorry," she stuttered shamefully, looking to the ground in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's okay," Jane insisted, "mistakes happen."

Then, the smoke alarm started going off. Estrial squeaked in start, shuttering each time the piercing ring sounded. She felt herself growing over-stressed and quickly ripped off her control-cuff, her body becoming transparent again; she didn't want her power to break it when she let loose. Loki noticed what was about to happen, eyes wide and serious. He quickly rushed to the star and hugged her head to his chest, covering her ears as best he could.

This action did help, but Estrial still needed to release the built up adrenaline. Her glow brightened, engolfing both her and Loki, then pulsed outwards in a single motion. However, it wasn't as intense as when she exploded out of her first control-suit weeks earlier. The smoke alarm went silent in the white energy; everything went silent.