It all started with coffee.
It had really only been a little thing, he'd looked up at the sound of the bell as the door opened, and he may have gazed at her for a moment longer than normal because he could appreciate the fine form of a woman, mortal or not, if he so wished.
He'd gone back to reading.
Nothing happened, but then she dropped some files next to his chair, swore softly and started picking them up.
It was a decision made in a second.
He helped her pick them up. She smiled and said thanks, then went on her way. He continued reading his book, he was just getting to the good part after all.
She left and he didn't see her again for several days. But return she did because the coffee shop was quaint and nice and the drink was good.
This time she stopped by his table and waited for him to look up, she smiled and thanked him for helping her the previous day. She offered to buy him another coffee.
That was how it all started.
She would sit at his table and they would talk, as it turned out she was studying many of the things he was quite knowledgeable about, he had to be careful and not let anything of import slip, but they still spoke of the stars, they spoke of many things.
With his time on Midgard he had learned many things and he could possibly pass for a mortal with his knowledge of them. He had a thirsty mind, he always wanted to know more, and that helped him know enough not to rouse suspicion.
They ended up spending hours talking in the coffee shop, laughing and getting to pick each others brains. She turned out to be very intelligent. He was even more attracted.
He may have flirted.
Snarky, sly and cryptic but a gleam in his eye that showed how amused he truly was.
She may have flirted back.
Witty, quick and sure, and an eye to see through all of the little tricks he pulled.
It was probably some cruel joke by Fate and the Norns, but he went through with it all anyway.
They met up several times a week, they talked, they laughed and generally had a good time. He was starting to think that just possibly, not all mortals were boring and meant to be ruled. Which was good (for them).
She asked him out to dinner.
He said yes.
Her name was Jane.
They went to dinner and she looked wonderful, she told him the same, that he should wear casual formal more often, (as in his dress shirt and slacks as opposed to the suit he tended to wear to make it look as if he was working or something of the sort), he pointed out that 'casual formal' was, in fact, an oxymoron.
She laughed.
Over all, dinner was great.
They made it a weekly thing.
It wasn't long until their first kiss. As opposed to many, it was not an accident or awkward. They both wanted it. They both took. Things progressed from there and soon, before either of them realized it. They were a thing.
Jane Foster and Luke Gastiwr both were off the market.
Luke was a cover name of course, but how could he tell her who he really was? Besides, it wasn't like things could get serious.
Things got very serious.
He fell for her, he fell for her hard, and she seemed to be on the same path.
They spent more and more time together, and they grew closer and he could almost convince himself he was normal. It was freeing, liberating in a sense.
He couldn't bring it in himself to mind.
They were at peace, he would stay at her apartment which was in Manhattan because she was working on some big project that had to do with her stars, she got very in depth about it sometimes and he pretended to understand to the best of his abilities. Fr it was obvious she was the genius when it came to astrophysics, he knew of it in another sense, he simply needed to work out how to translate it.
He would cook for her, because it was something he honestly enjoyed, it was a peace that settled around him gave him a sense of contentment he had not felt for an age.
At night he would whisper words in her sleeping ear that he was sure she could not hear, but that was okay, she wasn't supposed to.
They were at peace.
But of course, it didn't last.
"And I told them they couldn't because the field was unstable, but-"
"They did it anyway."
A long suffering sigh came from across the table, "I don't understand why they won't listen to me, I've dedicated my life to this research and they treat me like I'm-" Jane threw her hands up and grumbled under her breath, "Like I'm just a woman!"
"Jane," Luke turned from the stove, the blue apron that Jane had thought would look good on him (in the nude) tied around his waist, "You are just a woman," and at her glare he grinned, "A woman with more passion and intelligence than they can comprehend, it's your duty not to accidentally push them off any high places."
She rolled her eyes, "You're such a jerk," she said fondly as he pushed her finished omelette over to her, leaning over the counter.
"I know," he said and then pressed his lips to hers, "But you like me anyway."
"I like your omelettes," she said with a quirk of her lips and a fork in her hand.
"Oh the truth out at last," he laughed, "I should have listened to mother when she told me I would only be wanted for my skills and not for me!"
"Really? Is that what your mother said?" Jane asked as she started in on her breakfast, she had a long day ahead so a good meal and a little banter with her man was a great start for it.
"Well it might have included good looks too, but I really can't remember," he said with a wide grin.
She laughed, "Never taught you anything about modesty then?"
He opened his mouth to answer when the buzzer sounded, Jane looked at the door, "Were you expecting company?" he asked, and she shook her head, shoveling another forkful of omelette in her mouth before getting up and heading for the door.
"Very lady like," he called after her, she only shook her butt at him in response, he laughed again.
He turned to the sink to start the dishes, but he listened closely to the door, despite being on Midgard for so long, Loki was so paranoid that someone would find out that 'Luke Gastiwr' was in fact 'Loki of Asgard' that he sometimes made rash and stupid decisions, but he had to be a lot more careful with Jane. Considering the circumstances.
He could hear her open the door and greet the other person, and the voice he heard in reply made him drop the plate he was holding.
"Luke?" Jane called, "Oh come in, please! It's been such a long time!" This was to their guest, he heard the door close.
"I-I'm fine! The plate just slipped, nothing to worry about!" he called back, quickly kneeling and gathering the broken plate and putting it in the trash, hoping against hope that he was just imagining things.
No such luck.
"Yes, it has been a long tome, for which I apologize," the deep voice, unmistakable, answered. "Lady Jane, I am afraid I am not here for a social visit, you see…I am…worried that something could hurt you."
"Hurt me? What do you mean?" Jane was serious, he knew the exact face she was using too.
"You are aware of my brother Loki-" his knuckles turned white as he gripped onto the edge of the sink. "-I fear he may be planning something very…nefarious, for he has not attacked us in weeks, months, made no move against us. It is troublesome, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Nothing…strange has happened to you in the last few weeks?"
Loki swallowed, oh gods. He never thought his lack of activity would bring this kind of reaction, any other time and he would have been pleased. But not now. Oh gods. How could he have known that this Jane Foster, who had researched in New Mexico was the same Jane of his brother's heart? He couldn't. He had no way of knowing.
He'd fallen for his brother's woman. He was so very very fucked.
"No, SHIELD hasn't picked up anything when I go in for work," Jane replied, Loki almost choked. SHIELD? Oh dear ones above, what had he gotten himself into? A mess that was too big to clean up. That's what.
But was it really a mess? How could he think that when he had enjoyed everything he'd had with Jane up until now?
"If you are sure…?" Thor asked again and Loki could almost sense Jane's reassuring smile.
"Really Thor, I'm fine, nothing strange has been going on, honestly, if I even suspected, you would be the first to hear about it. There is…something…well, there's someone I want you to meet," and then they started towards the kitchen.
Loki's first instinct was to panic. No, no, this wasn't right, he couldn't be found like this. Thor wasn't very skilled at seidr but he could sense it when he tried and as much as Loki masked himself and made himself blend in to be a mortal, he'd only changed his appearance slightly, he still had green eyes and black hair. Thor would recognize him in an instant.
Loki only had one option. He had to bluff his way out. He could do this. He was the god of lies after all. He locked away all of the seidr he could so hopefully Thor wouldn't sense it, and then braced himself. He shouldn't be freaking out, he fooled the oaf often enough, this would be simple.
"Luke, this it Thor, Thor this is Luke, he's…well my ah-"
"Loki?" Thor interrupted just like Loki knew he would, he was marching forward, big and intimidating, 250 pounds of Asgardian God coming straight at him, he threw his arms up and backed away just like any sensible mortal.
"Whoa! What did I do?" he asked, looking to Jane as if begging for help reigning in her large pet viking.
"What did you-" the blond man was steadily growing angry.
"Who are you? Have we met?" he asked, "I'm sure I would have remembered, I'm Luke, Luke Gastiwr," he held out his hand, and waited.
With great relief, the other man deflated, Jane was looking on in confusion.
"Thor, is everything okay?" she asked, and the blond looked as she stepped between them, almost as if she were shielding the dark haired man from him.
"I- no- yes, yes, Everything is in rights, I was just…startled by your friend's appearance…that is all," he said glancing between the two quickly.
"He…looks like your brother?" Jane asked, she was flushed slightly, obviously embarrassed.
"Well that's awkward," Luke muttered and Jane elbowed him in the side, he only grinned, he saw Thor deflate completely, because when did 'Loki' ever act like that? Or perhaps because he saw how well they got together, like two well known lovers. Perhaps it was the latter. Either was, if it mean he would leave soon, it wasn't soon enough for him.
"I…forgive me for the intrusion, Lady Jane, I see you have…business to attend to," he said, eyeing them both, Jane pursed her lips.
"Thor…I well…" she flushed, Loki felt bad that she was in this position, but there wasn't anything he could really do about it.
But Thor smiled and took her hand and kissed it gently, "Think nothing of it Lady Jane, I am warmed that you may find happiness now," he said, looking truly pleased by it.
Jane smiled, "Thank you," she said glancing at Luke who shrugged in return, he wasn't about to interrupt. But of course that had Thor turning his attention back to him.
"Luke, forgive my initial suspicion, I hope you and the Lady Jane are happy together," he said with a little bow.
Luke waved his hand, "Oh it was no problem, think nothing of it," he said, and then smiled at Jane, "I will do my best to keep her happy, I much prefer her smiling after all, though her scowl is pretty cute too."
Jane laughed and elbowed him again, "And who makes me scowl in the first place?"
"Your coworkers," he replied easily, she laughed again, Thor smiled but didn't really seem to know what they were speaking of.
Finally he stepped forward and held out his hand, "Well met Luke Gastiwr, I can tell you are a fine man and worthy of the Lady Jane."
"Why do I feel like I'm getting handed off by my big brother?" Jane muttered, Luke's lips cracked and he laughed.
"I do what I can," he said and was very hesitant to give his hand to Thor, but he tried his best to hide his seidr further and then clasped Thor's hand, "She is something special, I can see why you, great god of thunder, fell for her too."
Thor laughed and gripped his hand tightly, "It is really hard not to," he said and then Jane slapped both of their arms.
"Stop it, you're both going to make me pass out from too much blood to my head, I have to go to work!" she said, and her face was indeed bright red.
Luke and Thor grinned at her unabashedly, she groaned, "What have I wrought on the world?" She moaned and they laughed, she shook her head, and then something occurred to her.
"Oh Thor, could you please help me with something? Luke will probably want to finish the dishes, he doesn't like having them sit there," she said smiling and Luke nodded.
"It's true, I like clean," he said nodding moving back to the sink, Thor nodded.
"Of course," Thor agreed and followed her out of the room, Loki let out a sigh of relief, it looked like he would actually make this out alive.
It didn't take him too long to finish up the dishes, and then he remembered the broken plate, he hated wasting things when he could so easily fix it, he fished it out of the trash and placed it together, letting his fingers slide over the cracks, the magic gluing them together for a moment before it was whole once more. He washed it off and then set it with the others.
He turned around and froze, Thor was standing in the door, his mouth open as if he'd been about to speak. Loki had to think fast.
"Did you need something?" he asked, innocent as if he hadn't just magically fixed a plate in front of his former older brother.
"I…you…I saw it, you used seidr-"
"I used what?" he asked looking confused, it had always worked before, making Thor second guess himself, but not this time.
"I knew it! Loki!" Thor roared coming at him and of course Loki backed up.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" he tried again but Thor was grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.
"No more of your lies! What are you doing here with Jane! Tell me!" he roared, of course Jane was in the kitchen now, she'd heard Thor yelling.
"Thor!" she gasped, "What are you doing?!"
"Be no longer fooled, Jane! This is my treacherous brother! I saw him use his magic! He has been fooling you!"
"What?" Jane was frowning, like she did when she was trying to solve a rather difficult physics equation.
"No I-" he tried, but Thor snarled.
"Enough of your lies!" he shouted, "How dare you try to harm Jane!"
"Thor I don't think-" Jane started, but there was no out. Loki knew he was truly and well fucked. He had enjoyed the time he'd been able to spend with her. He was happy to keep the memories deep in his heart. The one that had been thawing against his will, because Jane truly was miraculous and soft.
"And I was so close," he said with a sigh as if Thor had spoiled a plan, "You always have to ruin my fun," his eyes dark and glaring at Thor, "Stumbling upon this must have been great luck for you, otherwise you would have never known."
"Luke?" Jane's voice was soft, and Loki had to use every ounce of will power not to flinch.
"No," he said instead, glaring at Thor because he could not bear to look at her. "Luke Gastiwr is a figment of my imagination, created to fool you."
"Forgive me Jane for not seeing this earlier, I would have spared you the pain and disappointment that seems to be the only thing my brother is good for," Thor said darkly, Loki snarled at him.
"You have no room to talk Brother, when all I ask from you is your understanding you scoff at me! You can not judge me for coming here and destroying the things you love when you did the same to me all through my life!" Loki retorted, steering the conversation from potentially problematic topics.
"You imagine such things! I would never-"
"You would! You take from me what I cherished, so I will do the same, I tricked her! I knew who she was all along, I knew she was going to fall for it, I did it to spite you!"
Jane just stared between the two of them and cut off Thor before he could roar back in rage, her eyes were hard, "No, you're lying."
That threw them both off. They turned to stare at her.
"What?" Loki asked startled.
"You're lying, I know you are. You had no idea who I was, because when we first met you were trying to ignore me, because I was a silly mortal, I didn't think about it then…but it's true." Then she stood up taller, "And when you think I'm sleeping, you whisper that you love me in my ear. You wouldn't do that if it was all a lie."
Loki was stunned to silence but only for a moment, he scoffed, "Of course I would, I am the god of lies, foolish woman, everything was fabricated flawlessly for this moment."
"You lie," Thor said quietly, his eyes had softened at some point, and was gazing at Loki with a look he hadn't seen for a very long time and Loki was half tempted to throw the newly fixed plate at his head.
"I do not!" he snarled taking a step forward, his hands fisted and his face awash with fury.
"You do, I know you do brother, if there is one thing you do not lie about it is who you love," he said his voice soft, but clear.
Loki went white, because that was something that he could not deny. Because that was something he'd promised when they were young, on a golden apple they'd shared. It was the only promise he had ever been inclined to keep. When he told someone he loved them, he was never lying. Never. Even before Thor's coronation, before it all had gone to Hel and back, he had not been lying.
"What do you know?" he hissed, now he took a step back, Jane knew it was a defensive tactic, "What do you know of me?! You never once cared before! How-"
"Lu-Loki," Jane said softly, she stepped towards him, but he was back against the wall before she could even place her foot down, "Loki," she said again, "I know you…maybe not all of you, but I know you…it's okay, I understand." she said, and Loki could see she was scared, but of what he wasn't sure-losing him, loving him, everything- he had no idea, but he didn't like that he scared her.
"No you don't!" he snapped.
"Brother…please if…if this makes you happy…" Thor started, struggling for words, as they were always Loki's domain.
"Enough!" Loki snarled, "You know nothing! Neither of you! I will not have it! This is not right! I will not have it!"
"Loki please-" Jane reached forward but it was too late, Loki had vanished out of sight.
There was silence for a long moment, and Jane promised herself she wouldn't cry. She didn't. Not until Thor had left after reassuring her that he would find his brother and speak to him, and vow to fix the mistake he had made unknowingly.
She cried when she was alone.
She cried for Loki because she knew he wouldn't cry for himself.
She wasn't angry, she wasn't upset at him. She was just sad, because she had seen the change.
When she had first met him, he had been quiet and cautious, but as she and he had gotten to know one another, he had been fun and bright and good company and he had proven to be a gracious lover and a sweet and wonderful person when it was just the two of them.
She knew it was all real, none of it was a lie.
Because he did love her.
He would whisper that in her ear every night for the past month, before he would lay next to her and fall asleep. She hadn't known how long he'd done it, she'd been in the way between sleep and awake when he'd done it that month ago, he'd done it in a way that made it obvious it wasn't the first time.
He was scared that he loved her, because he couldn't give her all of him like he thought she deserved. But he gave her all he thought he could which was more than she needed, and she appreciated it more than he knew.
She loved him too, now she just had to let him know.
It was close to two weeks before anything happened, it seemed Loki had needed to retaliate at Thor for butting in by trying to destroy the Brooklyn bridge just out of spite, naturally it was stopped in time by the Avengers.
And then he held the governor's daughter captive, when they found her, it was embarrassingly to find she was in her room having tea with her nanny. Thor had told everyone that Loki would never harm a child, no one believed him.
And then he tried to destroy the Empire state building, and then Broadway. But none of it got very far, as if he wasn't trying very hard. Jane read the articles in the paper and knew he was just trying to distract himself and wasn't succeeding.
Eventually she told Thor to give him a message, she didn't know he would ever get it until…well until she knew.
She knew the night that she woke to the feel of cold air coming in through her open window, the one she knew she had closed before going to sleep.
She bit her lip as she sat up in bed, she knew she wasn't alone, but there was only silence. Finally she sighed and got up to close the window.
"You could have used the door," she said softly, turning and leaning back against the cold glass.
There was more silence until finally, "I thought you might have changed the locks."
"I didn't," she said biting her lip, "Loki I-"
"Don't. Do not say something you may regret later," he said, and then she saw him come out of the shadows, he was in casual clothes, which was slacks and a dress shirt for him. Jane didn't think he owned any tee shirts.
"I won't regret anything I say to you because I know exactly what to say," she said stubbornly. He snorted at that, but then sighed he looked tired, very tired, stopping a few steps in front of her.
"Jane…" he started but she shook her head she knew what he was going to say, he had been spending too much time alone in his head.
"No," she said, harshly before she took the remaining steps over to him and wrapping her arms around him. "No, you aren't allowed to break up with me, I won't let you."
"Jane," this time his voice was constrained, but his arms slowly lifted and wrapped around hers, she could feel him relax like something have had been on him. Like he'd been pinned down by Mjolnir, which may have been how Thor had managed to give Loki her message.
"No," she repeated, "We can make this work, we already have, you know I don't care that you're not human, or mortal or whatever, You know we work well together," she hugged him tightly, "I know you don't want to, so…don't." Her voice was soft at the end, and he let out a sigh, gently pulling away.
He was silent for another moment before he pulled out the little envelope Thor must have passed along to him, "What is the meaning of this?" he asked finally.
She smiled and took it, slipping the gift card out of the envelope, "It's for the coffee shop we met at…it's…if you're worried that this will change things, this is me telling you that I'm willing to go from the start again, to get to know the real you, the Loki of Asgard you, not the Luke Gastiwr, which I looked up by the way, I can not believe how obvious you are some times."
That earned her a grin, "The best tricks are usually the obvious ones," he replied and she laughed, hugging him once more.
"So?" she asked and he sighed, she could tell he wanted it, how badly he did, he hadn't intended for any of this to happen, but it had, and now he had to be happy with the cards he'd been dealt.
There was another long pause then he took her chin in his hand and pressed his lips to her, soft and sweet, just like she knew he was when he dropped his mask.
"Very well," he said, "But I am appearing as Luke because I do not want the Avengers ruining our first real date. Ones above know what Thor would do," he bemoaned and Jane laughed with joy pressing her lips to his several more times.
"Sounds like a plan," she grinned, "So, Mister, shall we?"
"I suggest you put some clothes on first," he said and she shrugged.
"The only coffee available now is found in m kitchen," she said and he smirked.
"Oh yes, but I like undressing you with my eyes, it was my favorite part of our dates," he teased and she laughed in surprise, as it turned out, Loki was a pervert that Luke never was. Strangely enough. She liked it because it was new and for the most part harmless.
The went to the kitchen to make more coffee, and to talk.
It all ended with coffee and a resolution that was never seen before.
THE END