He nodded and offered a soft smile “yes, if we want to eat before the meeting with Thor, we’ll have to get going. He set the circlet back on his head and offered her his hand. He wanted to stay longer, just him and his wife. There was a lot they both needed to catch up on, between the five years due to Thanos and the recent year and a half apart, he felt as if they hadn’t had the proper time to enjoy their life after the wedding. He wanted to live a life where he didn’t have to look over his shoulder in case something threatened him or Avalin, he just wanted to be happy with her. He gently pulled her into a hug and rested his head on hers. “Maybe a few more moments couldn’t hurt.” He said softly
Hello Darling, (Loki one on one, closed, stalkers are always welcome)
Avalin returned his hug, burying her face into his chest as she murmured, "I'd love a few more minutes with you." She didn't move from against him, even if she knew that they had to get going. There were a lot of things they needed to do, but this was also something she needed to do. She sighed and finally pulled away once more, smiling up softly at him before reaching up and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, "Should we have Magnus come to breakfast with us?"
He gazed down at Avalin and took a deep breath. “I’d love to, he deserves a break.” He deserved more than that for helping him and Avalin. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea though. Off Thor finds out that he’s missing, I doubt he’d consider giving him back the position. I’m not even sure he’d consider keeping him here.” He said, truly hating how much he feared his brother’s reaction. Back then hadn’t been scared of what he’d do, he even enjoyed the fights they had. But back then, Loki didn’t have anything that he wouldn’t risk giving up for his thirst for power Andy his brothers acceptance. He had Magnus, he had Leif and he had his future with his wife that he desperately wanted with, far more than his thirst to piss off hi so brother in order for him to be an equal.
She frowned but nodded, realizing that it probably wasn't the best idea. "We'll have to bring him food back then if he can't come with us. Eating something that you haven't had to cook is a really nice feeling." Avalin, nodded once more, this time to herself, "And something to drink as well, I want to make sure he has a good meal. It's the least we can do." She looked up at Loki, a hopeful but unsure look in her eyes, "Is that alright? I want to do something for him."
He smiled softly and nodded “I think he’d like that, love.” He said with a nod, gently taking her hand in his and opening the door, leading her through. He took a deep breath and glanced down as the pets joined them. “We’ll do more for him. We just have to be careful.” He said, dropping his voice down as a few servants past by, both nodding their heads but giving them both narrowed eyed glares. Loki gently tugged Avalin close to his side and quickly lead them outside of the castle, hating the scrutiny they were under in the castle
Avalin nodded, watching as Spot and Queenie followed them out of the room. She smiled at the servants that passed them, though her smile quickly fell as they returned her smile with glares. It confused her, but she didn't bring it up, just tried to think of a reason why they would glare at the pair instead of offering even fake smiles. She hadn't done anything to make them resent her or her husband, or at least she didn't think she did.
When finally out in the city, Loki loosened his hold on Avalin, letting her explore if she wished. He took a deep breath, immediately feeling relieved. He smiled softly and looked around, glad that the streets weren’t that filled in the morning. “So you’re going to order chocolate chip pancakes?” He questioned, arching an eyebrow teasingly. “You probably can have the most eccentric breakfast item in Asgard and you choose chocolate chip pancakes?” He smiled lovingly and pressed a kiss to her head
She relaxed once they were out in the city, walking alongside Loki and smiling gently as she laughed, "Well of course, why would I order something fancy when chocolate chip pancakes taste just as good for a quarter of the price." Avalin watched as Queenie meowed to Loki to be picked up, smiling gently even as Spot walked on her other side, sniffing and looking around happily. "What are you going to get?"
He nodded “you do have point.” He glanced down at Queenie and shook his head. “Is that so, tiny creature? Just a few steps out in the city and you already want off your feet?” He shook his head and scooped up the cat, setting her on his shoulders. “Better?” He smiled softly and glanced down at Avalin “I’m not sure. I’ve never there before, I only heard that it had popped up.” He said, lacing their hands together
Queenie happily purred as she settled down on Loki's shoulders, scanning the city from her new perch on top of him. Avalin smiled at the sight and chuckled, nodding as she squeezed his hand, "Well, I'm sure it's good, even if it doesn't end up having chocolate chip pancakes." Spot moved from walking on Avalin's side to walking between them as they laced hands, padding along easily.
He couldn’t help the smile from growing “I’m sure they do love.” He replied, lightly rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand as they walked through the streets of Asgard. He looked around the city, watching as it slowly came to life around them, colors and stand popping up as they started to open. He had always liked mornings in asgard, there’s was always a calming energy to mornings here that he found incomparable to any other realm
She smiled and walked alongside of him calmly, watching businesses open and shops start to come to life, bringing the usual color back to Asgard. "For as much as I do not like your brother at the moment, I love the city he governs," She murmured, looking up at him and then back at the streets that were coming to life, "I really love it here, it's…peaceful but full of life."
He nodded in agreement. “As much as we fight and constantly belittle each other in every way possible, I do have to admit he is a good king. One of the tHe bests we’ve had in a while.” He said softly, always having known his brother would be a good ruler despite never telling him, never accepting it himself either.
"He is a good ruler, but I think he could be a better brother," She replied, shrugging and squeezing his hand with a gentle smile, "You two could get along so much better than you do, but I understand that there have been rough times for us and for him, which makes getting along a little stressful." Avalin looked up at him and gently let go of his hand, though only to pet queenie before she slipped her hand back into his.
He shrugged slightly “that’s a bit more complicated, I have some of the blame as well fir that downfall. And the events that have followed haven't really helped that.”
Queenie purred at the pets and nudged gently into Avalin’s hand.
Loki smiled softly and pressed a gentleman kiss to her head was. “It’s something I wish didn’t happen but I can’t entirely say that I regret my actions.” He said, leading her down an empty street that went to a small clearing filled with shops and children already running about.
She nodded, understanding that the brother's relationship was more complicated than a simple fight. It would take a while to get them on good terms, or even tolerable terms again, and that was alright. It couldn't be a simple fix. "So, where is this place you talked about earlier?" She asked as she wandered alongside him, a smile on her face just from the kiss.
“You’ll see soon.” He replied, stopping to look around momentarily before finding the small cafe off in The corner. A bright smile lit up his face as a familiar figure stood outside the cafe, ushering patrons and children alike into the cafe. Loki glanced down at Avalin and smiled “I think we’ve kept Lillian waiting long enough, no?”
Avalin looked around as he led her, a slightly confused look on her face before she smiled widely at the sight of Lillian. "How is this happening?" She asked, genuinely excited as she squeezed his hand and tugged him towards the cafe, "We can't leave her waiting, c'mon." Spot and Queenie seemed just as excited as they neared the cafe, with Spot's tail wagging quite quickly.
He laughed softly and followed her to The cafe, different from the one on Midgard, most likely to draw in customer easily but it still had that delicious bakery, homey smell.
Lillian smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well look who finally decided to pay me a visit! And not even that, I’m the one who had to come here!” She’s shook her head in mock disbelief and embraced the two. “Come in, come in, I’m sure you have a good excuse.” She’s ushered them in along with the rest of her patrons before shutting the door and gesturing to a booth near the back
"I wish we were able to visit sooner, there was just a lot that happened recently," Avalin said as she returned the woman's tight embrace, a happy smile settling onto her face. She glanced up at Loki with the same smile before tugging him along after Lillian, slipping into the booth she mentioned to. It was inevitable that they would talk about everything that had happened in the span of time Lillian hadn't seen them, but she tried to push that thought aside so she could enjoy the time with the cheery woman in front of them.
Loki slid in next to her and wrapped an arms round her waist. He glanced up as Lilian settled in the booth across from them and smiled sweetly “We’ll, it’s been a minute or two since we last saw each other, hasn’t it. God’s last time I saw you two, you just got married!” She shook her head and grinned.
Loki nodded and offered a small smile “and things have certainly changed since then. You’re here!” He said, trying to keep the topic off of them for a long as possible.
Lillian nodded “ after what happens with Thanos, my son was gone. Me and his wife kept the place running his on earth. After a few years we move down gear with the help of a few asgardians that had been on earth. We went back after the five years to find my son and bring him here. Since then I’ve retired and live close but I come back now and then to help out.” She smiled and nodded to Thebes two of them. “But enough of me, what have you two been up to?”
Avalin smiled at Lillian's story, nodding along and settling against Loki. She glanced away at the mention of bringing up what they had been up to, but finally spoke. "When Thanos…snapped, I was gone, like your son. Loki may or may not have gotten into trouble during that time, but I'll let him talk about that. When I returned, Loki defied Thor's orders to get me, and so there was a bit of a fight which led to Loki taking on the punishment of solitary confinement for about a year and a half. I worked as a servant to shorten the time he was stuck in there…and I realized I was pregnant." Her voice got quieter as she continued, glancing up at Lilian every so often, "Our son didn't make it. And today is the seconds day we've been together in over a year."
Loki gently pulled her close, trying to silently reassure her but knowing that even he himself wasn’t sure of the whole situation. To be honestly he wasn’t sure if he fully could comprehend what had happened in the last year yet. It didn’t feel like they lost their son. Just that he was somewhere else where they couldn’t reach yet. He suspected that would change when he and Avalin had the funeral. He pressed his lips to her temple, her saying everything that has happened somehow solidified everything that had gone wrong in the few years.
Lilian’s cheery demeanor significantly dropped when Avalin started telling her about their life in the past few years. She gently reached over and took her hands into her own. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. I won’t pretend that I understand. But I hope that now you both have each other back, you can work through this at your own pace. I imagine you’d want to get away from Asgard for a while, and while id love to keep you both here with me, I get you need your time and space to get through this.” She took a deep breath and whipped tears that were forming “ah, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to cry.” She shook her head and pulled on a sweet smile. “Uhm, is there anything I can get you?”
Avalin could feel the hints of tears forming at her own eyes and she mustered up a bare smile, shaking her head, "It's alright, I just have to thank you for understanding that we have to get through this at our own pace. We're planning on leaving in hopefully a few days, but there was no way we were going away without saying goodbye. I hadn't even known you had come here until today." She looked up at Loki, then pulled up a slightly bigger smile, "I'm in the mood to eat if you are offering food that is."
Loki broke away from his thoughts and smiled softly, seeing that she too was making an effort to keep it together. He took a deep breath nodded “thank you Lillian. You’re one of the first to know actually.” He said softly, a genuine smile on husband features when Avalin asked for food. “Ah yes, this one has been craving chocolate chip pancakes all morning.”
Lillian nodded and stood “don’t you worry, I’ll take care of it. And you’re welcome.” She’s offered a smile beforehand heading to the kitchen to start the breakfast
She settled against Loki even more as Lillian left, closing her eyes and staying silent. "It was painful enough to let one person know, and that was someone we knew personally…the funeral is going to be impossible," She murmured, her voice wavering a tiny bit. It was taking a bit of focus to keep herself together, and even then, she had to quickly wipe away some stray tears that made it out.
He took in a shuddering breath and hugged her close, resting his head on top of hers. “I know my love.” He murmured softly “hopefully there won’t be so many people and we can get through the funeral without having to speak much.” He pressed a kiss to her head and gently rubbed her arms in an attempt to comfort her. “If anything I’m hoping Thor will talk since he he is the king. That isn’t ignorant he decides to attend.” He wasn’t going to put it past Thor not to attend his own nephews wedding out of spite for Loki
"It's not going to matter who speaks…it'll still hurt to remember that Leif isn't here." Her voice still shook but she took comfort in how close he was. For the first time in months, she had a shoulder to cry on besides Magnus' as well as someone to hug, even if she could do neither of those while they were here eating. "But maybe we can convince him to speak…he didn't get to see Leif, and I think it would be nice for him to do something to make up for not seeing his nephew.
Even as she said he could still feel that tug at his heart for his son. That yearning to be a good father and then suddenly get that torn away was devastating, it still is to him. He took in a breath, comforted by the thought that at least he had Avalin back. They’d take a break from being in Asgard for a few months then come back for the funeral. Things would most likely still be rocky with him and Thor but he hoped things would level out by then between them.
“We’ll see. Maybe now isn’t the right time to request such things of his majesty, but I don’t think it could hurt to ask.” He said and bit of tease towards his brother in the tone of his voice.
She nodded, sighing softly and glancing back at him. "Do you think we should have the funeral before we leave? Or should we wait and come back?" Avalin knew either way it would hurt, but she wasn't sure if adding more pain now was going to be smarter than reliving it later. At least, whatever option they chose, she would finally be able to spend time with her husband. For the first time since their marriage and trip to Earth more than five years ago.