Sif's Wishes

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Leaning against the banister of the stairs, Loki watched the people crammed into the living room of the house that belonged to Thor and Jane – and himself. He wasn't sure why Thor thought it was a good idea to invite him to his Christmas party. He'd have preferred just staying in his bedroom or going for a very, very long walk. He could still sense the animosity or wariness whenever any of the Midgardians had to interact with him.

Hawkeye had given him a frosty look. Widow had eyed him guardedly and uttered a perfunctory greeting. The child Peter Parker was congenial in a slightly uncertain manner. ("Oh, hi there, Mr. Loki, sir. Uh, merry Christmas?") Everyone else had variations of Hawkeye's, Widow's, and Peter Parker's reactions. Except for Darcy and Strange. Darcy, who had adopted a more Jane Foster-like reception of himself from the outset, said that he looked better than she expected him to (what – did she expect him to not recover his looks three years after Thanos' demise?), and suggested he try the champagne instead of the mulled wine before she sauntered off. As for Strange, that irritating man had said hello and smirked, as if remembering the time he'd dropped Loki into a bottomless void for half an hour.

It wasn't long before Sif sidled up to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Staying out of everyone's way."

"It isn't like you to be so obliging."

"Christmas is their version of Yule. This is as good a time as any to be obliging." He drank from his glass (the champagne was indeed much better than the mulled wine) before adding, "I don't know why Thor insists on having this here. He has a much larger living space in the tower in New York."

"Well, you cannot deny that our town here has a lot more cozy charm than New York."

Loki recalled the vast halls of their palace on Asgard, with hallways where up to five could walk abreast with ease and ceilings that were some two or three storeys high. "Coziness," he said, "might be overrated in some circumstances."

"Yes, you did like having all that space. More room for you to lose yourself in when you wanted to avoid things."

"There were distinct benefits to a library ten times larger than this house. But in my defense, I never shied away from things that were a respectable duty. I merely tried to avoid things that were of less importance."

"Like Thor's birthday that one year?"

"He had five hundred guests spread across two halls. No one would have noticed if only four hundred and ninety-nine showed up."

"Even if Thor had not, I would have noticed."

"Which is why both of you came bounding after me like two hounds hard on a scent, and insisted that I show my face in the grand hall."

"Be thankful we noticed before your mother did."

"How do you know she didn't? Be thankful that happened in a time before I learnt to open the secret ways to other places, other worlds. Or you might not have found me so easily."

Sif detected wistfulness in his words. She looked at him. There was nothing in his face that seemed different, but in his voice there was a longing…

She knew that the agreement Thor had made with the other Avengers and with the governments of Midgard was that Loki would be effectively reduced to a form of house arrest for a decade. He would be allowed to remain in New Asgard, but he could not leave without permission unless absolutely necessary, and then he was to be accompanied by Thor or Dr. Strange or herself (preferably all three of them). Strange had placed magical barriers in place to ensure that Loki remained within the boundaries of their town. She knew that Loki had chafed under the restrictions from the beginning. He had gritted his teeth even while he promised his brother and Sif that he would abide by the terms. Every now and then, however, she thought saw a spark in him that longed to go places and see things, to work his magic in more significant ways.

Sif touched his shoulder and jerked her chin in the direction of the upper floor. "Let us go look at the stars."

He followed her obediently, setting his wine glass down on a side table on the landing.

Thor had made sure his New Asgard home had an open space on the roof, so Jane could set up a telescope for the times she wanted to study the galaxy when they were there. It was to this space that Sif led Loki. But to Sif's disappointment, the sky was cloudy so barely any stars were visible.

Loki chuckled at her dismay. "Well, I thought you'd asked me to come here for some privacy. I did not think you really wished to look at the stars."

"Can I not wish for privacy and also to look at the stars beyond?"

"You may wish for anything, my lady, and I would do what I can to comply."

Sif gave a one last annoyed huff at the clouds in the sky and turned to Loki. "As the weather is not complying with my second wish tonight, perhaps we should just attend to the first of my wishes," she said, approaching him.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, while his free hand skimmed her side. "I do not doubt that this woollen sweater is very warm and comfortable, but I admit that I miss the silk gowns you wore at the feasts of Asgard."

She pressed her lips to his in a sweet, chaste kiss before saying, "As Surtur reduced all my gowns to nothingness, I am afraid that you must go on missing them."

"You could ask Jane to assist you in acquiring some fine silks of Midgard."

"And what would we pay her with? I hear that the best silks are tremendously expensive here – just as they were back on Asgard." Sif ran a finger around the collar of his tunic. Loki had insisted on getting clothing as close to the ones he used to wear on Asgard. He rarely wore the casual clothes of Midgard, although Thor and many of the other Asgardians (herself included) had embraced the local styles.

"Thor's Avengers allowance, of course," he said, nuzzling her cheek. "Or whatever Thor brings back from one of his trips with that motley crew of Quill's. For alas, Surtur reduced all the royal treasury to nothingness."

Sif laughed, as Loki pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth. "For now I am afraid you must remain disappointed in my woollen sweater, just as I must remain disappointed in the cloudy sky."

"I prefer your silk gowns but that is not to say that I dislike this sweater. As for the sky…" His words trailed away, and a thoughtful expression came over his face.

"What?" asked Sif, feeling somewhat distracted by the random patterns he was making on her back.

He cast a look around to ensure that no one else was nearby. "Can you keep a secret, Sif?"

"Of course. You know I can – what?!"

Still keeping his arm around her, he waved his other hand and to Sif's complete shock, a tall fissure opened in thin air, sparkling gold at the edges. He waited a second before he stuck his hand in, pushing the sparkling edge aside as though it was a curtain and swiftly tugging her through it.

She barely had time to register the fact that it looked awfully similar to the sorcerer's portals, except that it wasn't circular. It felt as though all she'd done was blink, take a step, and all of a sudden, she was standing on a mountain somewhere, with mist below and a vast night sky glittering with stars above. The fissure closed behind them.

"Loki!" she gasped. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere with a good view of stars," he said vaguely. "Best that you not know so you can pretend this was all a dream or illusion of some sort if you have to."

"What – how? You aren't supposed to be able to do any sort of transportation spells!" She noticed that the mist was faintly purple in colour. They were definitely not on Earth. "Strange said –"

"Apparently I can." He was unable to keep the pride out of his voice at having scored one over Stephen Strange.

"How long have you been able to?" Sif was torn between looking at Loki and looking at the stars. These were not constellations with which she was familiar; the sky looked like a beautiful black sheet with diamonds scattered on it.

"Almost from the beginning. I suspected – I sensed there was at least one path to other worlds that hadn't been shut off. Even the Sorcerer Supreme may forget exactly how many secret ways through the worlds exist. I have never done so before however."

"If you could have, why didn't you?"

"I gave my word to Lady Sif," he said simply.

Sif abandoned the sight of the stars in favour of looking wonderingly at Loki. He smiled at her and she took his face in her hands and pulled him down for a kiss.

He held her tightly as their lips met (and if there had been a convenient wall nearby, Sif was sure he would have backed her up against it). Her fingers drew paths along the smooth skin of his neck, up his face, and round the back of his head. He dropped faint kisses on her cheek, pausing for a heartbeat between each one, each pause heightening the thrill of it.

She shivered involuntarily as Loki's lips found a particularly sensitive spot under her chin. She murmured his name with a sigh, and Loki moved his attentions back to her mouth, kissing her with such intensity that she felt like little more than a boneless mass with some appendages tangled in his dark hair.

The ardent kisses slowed eventually, for even Asgardians needed air. Sif drew back just far enough for their noses to touch. Her arms rested on his shoulders and she continued to stroke his hair. Loki's smile had turned into a small grin. It was nice, Sif thought, to see him looking and feeling so content.

"Do you think anyone's noticed we're gone?" she asked.

"Perhaps Thor and Jane. Others might notice you're gone, but I daresay they don't notice my absence. Or if they do, they might be relieved."

Sif's own smile turned into a frown. "I hope they don't start to think you've run away. It wouldn't be good if they accused you of breaking the terms –"

Loki observed, "I am still adhering to the terms of my punishment for I have not left New Asgard on my own – I am with you."

Sif poked him in the side. "I believe here Darcy would call you a 'smart ass.'" She looked up at the stars again. "This really is beautiful. But why now?"

"Now?"

"You said you never tried to transport yourself before this because you promised not to do so. Why did you do it now?"

He twirled a lock of her hair around a finger before releasing it so it fell over her shoulder again. "It seemed an appropriate moment. And you wished to see the stars. So I complied."

"If I wished for a carpet or a rug of some sort, could you conjure one now?"

"I believe that is a wish I can grant."

A fluffy rug materialised on the ground. Sif regarded it with her head to one side. "Is that the rug from the study?"

"It's the most comfortable rug in the house."

"Couldn't you just make a new one? It's going to have dirt underneath it and Jane won't be happy."

"It does take more magic to create something out of nothing rather than to summon something that already exists."

Sif sat down on the rug. With unhidden mirth, she said, "Is my prince tired out just from kissing me? That is not good. Here, lie down. Let us rest and look at this wonderful sky of stars since you have brought us all the way here."

She slid over to make room for Loki, who said, "If I am tired out, it is only from wielding magic that I have not used in some time. I could never tire of kissing you – a point I would gladly prove were you not more intent on stargazing right now."

"I can't say I don't believe you." Sif reached for Loki's hand and their fingers intertwined. She felt him run his thumb tenderly over the nearest finger.

They lay there and gazed at the stars in comfortable silence until Loki spoke.

"I am grateful, you know."

"Hmm? What for?" asked Sif.

"You are not obliged to stay with me all the time. You are allowed to leave New Asgard, to leave Midgard. You could go off on adventures with Thor. You could go anywhere and do anything. You could come here and see the stars. But you don't. You stay in New Asgard." With me, was the unspoken ending to the sentence.

Sif turned to him. "Loki…"

"You don't have to stay. I do not wish to hinder you, Sif."

"But I wish to stay. With you. Therefore, if you make me go away, you are stopping me from doing that which I truly, desperately, want to do."

Now Loki turned to meet her eyes. She released his hand so she could caress his face.

"I have journeyed through the realms for many, many years. And these are years in Asgard's reckoning, not Midgardian years. I have been all over – sometimes with you and the others, sometimes not. So, spending a mere ten Midgardian years in one place is not such a great difficulty, especially if you are here. Just don't do anything that might make them extend your punishment."

Loki caught her hand in his and touched it reverently with his lips. "You have my word. I do love you, Sif."

"You know I love you too, don't you?"

He nodded. Sif wriggled closer and manoeuvred herself into the crook of his arm, using his shoulder as a pillow for her head. "How long do you think we've been here?" How long can we stay before someone comes looking?

"Perhaps twenty minutes? Or more?" As if he read her mind, he continued, "They can spare us for another ten at least."

"All right. Then here's my last wish for today, my prince: we shall enjoy the stars for the next ten minutes. After that, we return and you can kiss me again so that if anyone happens to come up right at that moment, they'll have the perfect explanation for why we've been gone so long."

Loki laughed softly. "Should I be afraid that you are learning my scheming ways?"

"Shush, Loki. Look at the stars."

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A/N:

(Not super happy with the title, but oh well. That's always one of my main weaknesses...)

This started out rather randomly with me feeling like I wanted to write a Christmassy Sifki fic although it's past Christmas now... Still before the new year though!
I thought it would be short but then I got to the part about stars and suddenly the whole thing ballooned into a 2000+ word fic. Hah. I guess this is my belated Christmas present to the Sifki fandom? xD Merry Christmas, everyone!