Space Oddity

by FlickerByNight

Summary:

When Loki Laufeyson falls from the Bifrost and finds himself on Sakaar, he meets an eccentric stranger. None other than En Dwi Gast, known as the Grandmaster. An unlikely companionship forms between the two as the rest of the nine realms falls into chaos. Has Loki found love, and if so, is it too late?

Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting

There he was, shooting out of the Bifrost's rainbow stream like a firecracker. It was a bumpy ride, and it most definitely wasn't very comfortable when it came to falling against whatever garbage planet he'd landed on. CRACK. Damn. He must have broken something. All he knew now was that he was laying on an unknown planet without his shining brother Thor, and as if on command, a ship approached Loki. Something that looked like a camera aperture popped out and looked him over before the ship landed about a hundred yards from him. By the time it had landed, the prince of lies had already sat up, his fingers wrapped around the hilts of his twin daggers. He was ready to pounce if necessary, because one could never be too careful on a foreign planet, especially a giant garbage planet. If he hadn't guessed it before, he definitely knew what planet it was once the door was opened. Before him stood a figure in satin robes, tousled short hair and blue eyeliner. He thought it was 'The Collector' at first, but quickly realized that it was his equally, if not more flamboyant brother, 'The Grandmaster'. The Grandmaster walked toward him, making sure not to step on any trash with his designer sandals. Loki slowly rose to his feet from a crouch, not wanting the other to have an advantage as he approached. Before he could say anything to the man, he was reaching out to touch him, and not in a violent way.

"My god, you're gorgeous." The Grandmaster remarked as he caressed Loki's cheek, the trickster still gripping his daggers, ready to strike.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," He glanced down at the daggers Loki held. "Death is no object to me. Yours would pain me, especially seeing your good looks go to waste."

He was musing over Loki as if he were a precious gem, ready for the choosing. Loki raised an eyebrow, looking the other man over. He wasn't too bad himself... and Loki wasn't here for an extremely long time, he was here for a good time. He'd had many flings in his lifetime, so what was one more to add to the list? Loosening the grip on his daggers, he slid them back into their respective sheaths, relaxing himself in the presence of the new stranger.

"You'll have to excuse my um- bad manners. I'm the Grandmaster, but you can call me En, if it pleases you," The Grandmaster stammered, trying to get it out right.

Loki smirked a little, amused at how much this man was working to impress him. It was a valiant try, but Loki wasn't buying it yet. What if it was like a reverse manipulation? Being the trickster he was, he learned never to trust others or their motives. Especially the motives of a leader of another planet. That had never turned out well in the past.

"I am Loki, of Asgard." He'd finally come to terms with that. At least it was easier than explaining that he was actually adopted by Odin, not by choice, but by power-play.

"Come, come. Welcome to Sakaar," En waved him on, excited to get to know this new and seductive looking god.

En grinned right back and led him to the spaceship, which wasn't unlike a leisure car from Midgard. It was orange with blue stripes, almost like a flag. Loki stepped into the ship, looking around at the new surroundings. It was almost like the Quinjet, but with less seats in the back and four in the front. It definitely looked like a nice ship to steal and get away from Sakaar on. After a moment of getting lost in thought, he finally responded to the Grandmaster.

"Thank you. It's nice to be welcomed so... um, warmly," Loki spoke confidently and smiled a little, trying to pull him in with a little bit of manipulation.

En then motioned for him to take a seat. "You'll have to excuse the mess. I was just um.. well, I was busy."

Loki glanced around and noticed the half naked women in the back of the spaceship. He knew what was going on now, and he was honestly not that surprised. En was coming on strong to him, and he showed no signs of backing down once he had what he wanted.After a short time of flight, what proved to be an awkward flight because of the silence, they arrived at the towering palace. Once they arrived at the palace, he let Loki out and led him to the main club area of the arena. En did not really have time to explain much about what was going on because he had some things to take care of dealing with the revolution that seemed imminent. He liked seeing himself as a benevolent ruler, so it pained him, or so it seemed, to have to be the bad guy in the situation.

"Now... I've got a few things to take care of, so why don't you grab yourself a drink and I'll be back later to, um, show you around." The way En said the last phrase was a bit interesting.

Loki bit his lip slightly and nodded. "Mhm.. okay. I'll do that."

The Grandmaster left him where he was, not before having a chat with the bartender, and Loki grabbed a drink at the bar. It was green and gold, and he wandered if maybe the Grandmaster had a hand in that. He sipped on it a little, scrunching his nose up at the taste. It was definitely very strong, but at least it wasn't bland like the drinks on Midgard. He then began making small talk with the Sakaarians around him. He never gave up too much information about himself, not wanting to cause any confrontation just yet. Before too long, he felt a hand on the small of his back.

"Hey..." The voice said behind him, somewhat raspy but beckoning. "I told you I'd be back."

It was the Grandmaster. He definitely had a bit more than a crush on Loki. The ridiculously charming smile alone could have told him that. However, the gesture of simply placing his hand on Loki's back had been so delicate, as if not to break him.

Loki turned to face him and gave him a charming smile. "That you did."

En looked like he was holding something in, really itching to tell Loki, and it became even more apparent when he led him away from the crowd, into the hall toward his private chambers so that they could talk.

"Look, uh, I'm going to be upfront with you here," En murmured quietly, as if this were some inmate encounter. "You are a very special being. I see in you something that I see in myself. I know it sounds crazy, but I definitely do."

Loki was almost certain where this was going as he heard that. It still was quite shocking to hear that from someone about himself. Never in his life had he been so praised and admired.

"I know your story," En continued. "You were lied to your whole life and you're trying to make it better. You're becoming who you really want to be."

En seemed so entranced by Loki that he was spouting off poetical things about the god of mischief. Yet another definite sign that the Grandmaster was flirting in his own weird way.

"I want you to be my partner here.."Grandmaster finally had revealed his plans.

Loki was confused, but he kept listening. It was a little too soon to know, but he was definitely open to hearing what En had to say about it.

"I'll make you feel /wanted/. Isn't that what you want? Isn't that both what we want? This is a place for you to uh- escape the terrors of your own. Stay here?" The awkward Grandmaster had turned into a totally different person in those thirty seconds.

Loki saw the expectant look in his eyes, and damn, that sounded like an amazing proposition.

"I uh.." Loki knitted his brows together, looking at the other.

He seemed crazy on the outside, but maybe he was just looking for approval too. The Grandmaster had been talking so close to him that they could have touched foreheads if Loki would have breathed. So he did something unpredictable in an attempt to break the chain of familiarity. He leaned in and brushed En's lips with his own. One of his hands reached up to caress the Grandmaster's olive toned cheek, kissing him with a short burst of fiery passion. Just a taste. Sometimes just a taste is enough to get you addicted to something or someone. His lips were warm and soft, and he tasted of mint. What he hadn't expected was En to return the kiss while simultaneously getting his ringed fingers tangled up in Loki's hair. He was really getting into it. The trickster god loved the feeling of the slight pull En had on him, and he hated to admit it, but he honestly didn't want it to stop. En smirked against his lips, slowly pulling away after a moment.

"Is that a yes?" En purred in his semi-deep voice, looking to Loki expectantly as he kept caressing Loki's raven locks, twirling a strand around his finger.

The god wasn't used to anyone fawning over him like this. He was always treated like a vile creature on Asgard and Midgard, but now here was En, treating him as an equal, if not like his god.

"Yes, of course." Loki spoke without hesitation, looking up at his eccentric new acquaintance.

"Great. You'll be treated like royalty here. If anyone causes any problems for you, just let me know." The Grandmaster smiled charmingly, not making a move to leave. "Is it too much to, um, ask if you'd have dinner with me tonight?"

En was really grasping here, but he was falling for this ethereal god in front of him. He couldn't help it. He'd flirt with anything that walked, but Loki was much more than a casual flirtation for him. Loki tilted his head slightly.

"Not at all." Loki smiled strangely and glanced down at his clothes, tattered from the dimensional fall.

"I'll have some clothes brought up for you. This is your new home. I know you'll love it."The Grandmaster mused and then departed from him, leaving him in his personal chambers.

Loki didn't want to snoop even though he simultaneously did, but thought better of it. The room was a nice electric blue like the makeup En was wearing. Loki noted that it must be his favorite color. The bed consisted of shades of red and blue, even a little yellow mixed in. There was a blue canopy over the bed, along with a blue rug. It almost looked like a child's bedroom because of all of the colors. It wasn't a surprise when his clothes came that they were also blue and yellow. The actual surprise was that they looked like his old clothes, except for they had a slight design twist. It was clever, and Loki knew that En had a part in it. Once he'd gotten out of his old clothes and into the new, he heard En's voice come from behind him.

"You look nice." He smirked, ogling Loki as he fastened the straps on the clothes.

Loki was startled, his cheeks tinting with a pink blush as he caught the Grandmaster staring at him.

"Shit! I had no idea you were there. How long have you been there?" Loki asked, feeling suddenly more vulnerable.

"Just a moment. The pants, they suit you." En added very nonchalantly, though that heavily implied that he was looking at Loki's ass.

The trickster simply shook it off and headed over to him.

"So um... dinner? I'm starving, I apologize for being so eager." Loki truly was famished. Falling through the Bifrost certainly took a lot out of him.

En simply smiled and held out his hand to escort Loki to dinner.

"It's ready when you are, my /prince/." The Grandmaster answered, his eyesight resting on Loki and his new clothes.

Loki felt his spine tingle as En said that, mostly because this was all very new to him. So in the span of a couple hours, he'd fallen out of the Bifrost, landed on Sakaar, met the wealthy leader of the planet, and then in turn, En wanted to give him everything including his love. It was very overwhelming, though Loki was doing a great job at not showing it. As soon as they arrived, Loki noticed that it was just a 'Loki and the Grandmaster' kind of dinner. It was almost romantic, just a table set up for two, along with some foreign food that he'd never tasted before. Taking a seat, Loki spotted the wine and took a sip, settling himself into the new environment.

"How did you end up on Sakaar?" En asked out of the blue, looking to his new companion across the table.

"I was traveling in the Bifrost and the goddess of death knocked me outside of the beam," Loki explained. "It was all very confusing until I landed back-first into a space refrigerator here."

En chuckled softly, something that Loki hadn't managed to illicit from him yet. Loki took that as a sign that he was actually enjoying his time around the prince of lies, which was something the trickster was not used to.

"I'm sorry your trip wasn't on better terms." En was completely sympathetic, knowing how it felt to be thrust out of your life and onto an entirely different planet.

Loki shrugged a little, gently raising his glass as a toast.

"I don't think it was bad at all. This may be the best thing that has ever happened to me." En spoke honestly, then En clinked his glass against Loki's.

"You think so?" Loki then nodded in response, looking at him.

En paused for a moment before finally speaking again.

"I heard that uh, Thanos is out to get you," He mentioned, wincing a little as he looked at Loki. Thanos was someone he'd had an encounter with before. "There has been quite a bit of gossip. Ever since the attack on New York or whatever, he's been pretty mad that you didn't return the favor."

Loki's whole body tensed when he heard Thanos' name. He wasn't afraid of many things, but he was definitely afraid of Thanos. He felt a panic attack coming on, trying his best to keep his composure.

"I uh, I thought he would be moving on.. bigger fish to fry kind of thing, but he's searching for you, planet by planet," En explained, not thinking of it as a big deal. "No worries though, I'll keep you safe from him. He's an asshole. I don't like rude beings." En tried to assure him, noticing Loki was on the verge of a panic attack, so he moved out of his seat and over to Loki, gently rubbing his back.

"I'm sorry.. I didn't know that would upset you that much. He can't hurt you here." En consoled him and Loki shook his head.

"You don't know that. No rock. No barren moon. No crevice where he can't find me. The leader of the Chitauri's words himself." Loki had kept those words in his mind ever since the battle of New York had turned out not to go in Thanos' favor. Loki didn't know what to do, but it was comforting to know that En had his back.

"Alright.. alright. Do I have your word?" Loki asked hopefully, knowing that his fate almost laid completely in En's hands. He was without a way off the planet currently.

"Of course. You have my word." En nodded, agreeing to protect Loki from Thanos.

After Loki had finally gotten himself calmed enough to eat dinner, they ate the foreign dishes and then Grandmaster took him back to his chambers.

"There are other chambers available, but if you'd like, you can stay here," En grinned, extending a hand out to Loki. "We could have a groovy time here to get your mind off of things."

There was the suggestion Loki had been waiting for. He knew it was coming, so should he take En up on the offer? The raven haired god of mischief knew that no one probably knew who he was here. As far as he knew, Thor was on another planet and the Grandmaster was the only one who knew him and where he was from. This could be the start of a new beginning for him. He took the Grandmaster's hand, even though they were already where they needed to be. En had a wicked look on his face, one that promised something exciting. Though En was millions of years old, he still had a charm about him, and Loki desired to find out what he was like in bed. The god unclipped his cape from his shoulders, exposing that tight leather which curved around and clung to his perfect bottom. En was right there with him, his hand reaching to squeeze his ass, grinning as he nuzzled Loki's neck.

"I've never met someone so.. um.. perfect. You're such a god." En purred into his ear like a cat and Loki smirked right back, pushing the robe off of En's shoulders as he leaned in to steal another kiss.

"You should know, I'll break your heart." Loki murmured against his lips, almost afraid to love anyone. Loving his family had led to him losing everyone except for Thor, and even now, he wasn't sure if his brother lived. En's eyelids fluttered back open, looking into Loki's emerald eyes as if he could see the galaxy in them.

"You won't.." En murmured as the trickster caressed his cheek, smiling fondly at him.

"It's kind of you to think that." Loki emphasized, but stopped protesting as the Grandmaster then leaned in to kiss him once more, shutting him up for the time being. Loki's fingertips trailed down to En's tan chest, almost wanting to snoop in on his memories. No tricks tonight, little trickster. He kept reminding himself not to mess this up as he felt En start to unfasten the leather outfit he'd been wearing. His heart dropped slightly as he thought about the frost giant half of himself. What if this new stranger didn't accept that? He gently pulled away from En's kiss.

"Wait." Loki murmured and the Grandmaster looked at him, concerned.

"What seems to be the problem, Lokimotion?" En asked softly, even more patiently than Loki expected. Loki furrowed his brows in confusion at that one.

"Hm?" En chuckled softly. "Just a nickname for you. You traveled the Bifrost and fell here so it feels right. I like to give people nicknames." He explained and Loki even smiled a little. "So what's bothering you?" The trickster ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm.." Loki was having a hard time coming to terms with it, even after all this time.

"Pregnant?" The Grandmaster teased him a little and Loki chuckled, shaking his head.

"No.. I'm a frost giant." Loki chewed his bottom lip when he confessed it. En paused a moment and smiled.

"Loki... nothing to be worried about. I've been with all sorts of.. erm.. races would you call it? Maybe creatures would fit better. I know you're a shapeshifter." En replied nonchalantly, pulling Loki close once more, his fingertips exploring down Loki's chest. "Enough chit chat. Stop worrying and let yourself relax." Loki complied, finally allowing himself a moment without worry as he felt En stripping him of the leather garb he was wearing. He heard En flip his sandals off and almost laughed, but instead he kissed him to stop from laughing at that.

The next morning, a servant knocked at the door of the Grandmaster's chambers. En rolled over in bed, seeing Loki beside him, and he smiled happily. He knew his makeup was probably smudged and his hair was in a wreck, but for once he didn't care. Loki stirred in bed, hearing the knocking.

"Are they going to come in?" Loki asked softly, groggily.

"No, don't worry. I'll take care of them." En replied and sat up, pulling on his pants from last night, shuffling over to the door.

"What is it?" En asked the servants almost irritably, looking at the two servants that had approached.

"It's news about your brother.." The servants informed him, knowing it was enough to garner En's concern.

"What's happened?" En demanded from them. Loki noticed in the background how En was so irritable with everyone else, but not him. The servants looked at each other and one of them decided to give the news.

"He had an infinity stone, as you are aware of," One of the servants started. "A servant of his took the orb, in an attempt to harness it, and it exploded, leaving the Guardians of the Galaxy to take it." En looked back and forth from one of the servants to the other, making a 'go-on' hand gesture.

"Tivan is doing alright, but the stone is gone." The other servant continued. The Grandmaster crossed his arms, not sure of what to think about it.

"The stone is unsecured.. Thanos will find them and take it. We can't let this happen. He'll destroy everything." For once, En sounded relatively concerned with the state of the entire universe. Loki heard them talking and had also become increasingly concerned. He knew that Knowhere was far from Asgard, but Asgard would be one of the stops on Thanos' journey to the destruction of the universe. En then nodded to himself.

"I'll think of something. For now, go enjoy yourselves at the club. You never know how much time we have left." En spoke honestly and closed the door, returning back to Loki. Loki was propped up on his elbows, his dark hair tousled over his shoulders. En laid back down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"The main problem is that Thanos is going to get the infinity stones. We don't know how long it'll take him, but it's getting close," En ran his fingertips through his hair in a signal of distress. "The second problem is that my brother doesn't have the stone anymore.. and Thanos will come for him, thinking he has it. He'll kill him." As non sympathetic as En was most of the time, he loved his brother and didn't want him to die. "Of course I could bring him here, but then you and Taneleer would be here, luring him to us faster." En shook his head, more or less talking to himself now. "That won't do." Loki was nervous too, but he wanted to help En out.

"We'll figure something out," Loki assured him, laying back down and curling up close to him. "Let's just relax today. You can think of a solution." En seemed almost offended by that.

"You may not know this, but my brother is the only family I have left! As infuriating as he can be, I can't lose him." En fired back quite angrily. Loki's eyes widened a little.

"I completely understand, En. I know exactly how you feel." Loki had neglected to tell En about his brother, however, because Thor was known around the galaxy as a pompous and arrogant warrior. Who knows if he'd gotten on En's bad side before? After a little coaxing and comforting, Loki had gotten the Grandmaster to get out of bed and agree to showing him around the planet of Sakaar. Loki had gotten dressed in some new clothes that had been made ready for him while En dressed in his robes that he normally wore. Casual was everyday for him. En took Loki down to the spaceship that he did a lot of *things* in. He typed in the code and Loki made mental note of it in case he needed it later. The spaceship was something of a leisure ship, which Loki found quite odd, but at the same time not odd at all. Nothing was really *odd* for the Grandmaster.

"Have a seat, Lokes," En spoke, motioning to the passenger's seat. "So basically most of this god forsaken planet is junk that flies through space and into the portal." He added and Loki chuckled a little.

"So we'll be spending the day looking at space trash?" Loki questioned a little sarcastically, knowing that couldn't be it. En shook his head and grinned, glancing over at his new companion.

"Not exactly. This spaceship is more for other things." En confirmed Loki's suspicions and Loki's mouth formed into an 'o'. He was certainly amused.

"So we're christening every surface we touch now? Is that you'd have us do?" Loki inquired. En shrugged a little.

"Only if you want to. I'm open to rejection too, of course. It happens, y'know." The Grandmaster mused, leaning back in his seat as he started to fly the ship. The trickster couldn't believe his ears. He'd never met anyone with that kind of sexual appetite before. Not even on Asgard, which was quite surprising. Something about En said that he didn't quite play by the rules. He played his own game, in which he did what he want, whenever he wanted to.

"I'd also like to get to know you outside of just the bedroom, figuratively speaking." Loki was all in for sexing it up in the spaceship, but he also was extremely curious about En's history and private life. He knew vaguely about a rebellion among his people from the here-say he heard around the day previous.

"And I, you," En replied, surprisingly enough. "I'm open to questioning.." He added and motioned for Loki to fire away.

"I don't know, just tell me about how you came here or something. Or why maybe?" Loki asked curiously, wanting to know more about his new companion. En was happy to oblige, though his story wasn't the easiest to tell.

"If I were to tell you all of it, it would take years. I'll just sum it up and you can ask questions further from that," En began, ready to open himself to this new Asgardian stranger. "I've been around since just after the beginning of time. I also used to be part of a galactic race but all became extinct except for myself. Before that, I possessed the time gem and I could bend time to my will. Very helpful, I might add. Then Thanos comes around and fucks everything up, taking my gem. Fast forward some years and the other elders and I are working on trying to defeat the other giant purple asshat, Galactus. We used the remaining gems on him and that defeated him, for a while at least. Really, after my race was almost brought to extinction, I've just been traveling from place to place. Sakaar seemed like a pretty rad place so here I am. I started the arena because I really love games. Who doesn't?" Loki was intrigued by his story, curious if En would let him take a peek into his memories.

"Would you mind if I.. uh.. looked into your memories? Would that be too painful?" Loki asked curiously, looking at En.

"You can do that? I mean, sure. Go ahead, give it a whirl." The Sakaarian answered, fully open to it.

"If it becomes too much, just think in your mind that you want me to stop and I will." Loki spoke, his voice calming as he moved closer to the Grandmaster. En willingly leaned in, intrigued in what Loki could do. Loki pressed his palm to En's forehead, closing his eyes. As Loki delved into the Grandmaster's mind, he became one in the memory.

En looked around, seeing his friend shouting at him.

"You are nothing but a coward! Running away from all of your problems! They are going to decimate us and you are going to leave? Shame be upon you!" He glanced toward his spaceship and made a break for it. As he lifted up, he could see his fellow brethren dying through the window of the spaceship. Thanos blasted through his planet like it was made of butter. The force of the explosion caused his spaceship to careen into space, breaking apart. He was panicking, his breathing becoming shallow as he looked around for a way to save himself.

"Stop! Stop!" En cried out in his memory and Loki jerked back violently, feeling his anxiety rising too.

"By Odin's beard.. I apologize. I did not mean to target that memory in particular. You must have been thinking of the one that you did not want me to see." Loki explained, concerned for En as he saw the color drain from his face. En gripped the chair he was in, his face pale.

"Let's not do that again, shall we?" En wasn't angry, just shaken, and Loki could understand why. The god frowned a little more, then gently rubbed En's back.

"You did what you had to. You could have died too.." Loki was trying to console him, but En hated hearing that.

"I should have. I am damned to live this life knowing what I did, rather, what I didn't do." En spoke, clearly frustrated. A hand now resting on En's cheek in a sign of comfort, Loki brushed his thumb over the Grandmaster's cheekbone, looking into his eyes.

"I did something similar, but worse. I killed my entire race.. in hatred. Now it haunts me. I did it to make a point, and now I look back on it in shame," Loki paused before continuing, closing his eyes for a moment. "There are no more frost giants. I'm the last one." It was the first time he'd admitted that to anyone before. It felt good to get it out. The Grandmaster frowned a little more.

"Wow.. I can't imagine.." En was at a loss for words and he didn't know what to say to Loki.

"Everyone is redeemable. If you make that choice, anyway, you can be," Loki added and then leaned in, stealing a kiss from En's lips. "It's going to be alright. Sakaar is your new beginning. Don't let the past become who you are now." Loki always gave good advice, though he didn't take his own. En's lips tugged into a soft smile, glad to have reassurance about the misdeed he had done. He leaned back in the seat, cruising high above the space trash.

"I've got music, you know. Good stuff, at least I think so." En was clearly changing the topic, but Loki was grateful for it. The Grandmaster grinned over at the other male and Loki smiled more. He could actually be himself around Loki.

"I'll be the judge of that. Midgard has turned music into a scrap heap." Loki chuckled, leaning back in his own seat, in a better mood now that he had comforted the other. He'd almost forgotten that Hela was destroying Asgard while Thor was off somewhere he had no clue of. He'd also almost forgotten that Thanos was coming to kick his ass, or much worse. Probably much worse.

After singing some classic rock songs from Midgard, En more or less belting them out, they'd had a good laugh and turned the ship on autopilot.

"Lokes, you haven't told me about yourself that much. I mean, yeah, um, you're part frost giant so that's cool. I honestly thought you'd have a popsicle if you know what I mean. That was a little concerning to me." En smiled, his bright white teeth poking out a little. Loki chuckled and shook his head.

"No.. nope. Well, I was adopted as a kid and brought up thinking I was just Asgardian. So when I found out, my father did not want to deal with it in a reasonable way, so I rebelled," Loki paused again, finding it hard to talk about his past. "I killed my whole race, fell off a bridge, and then found Thanos. I was given the tesseract and I led an army of Chitauri against the human race and failed, so that's why Thanos wants me, long story short." En blinked a couple of times.

"Wow, really hitting the high notes, are we?" En shook his head, feeling like that was a fast explanation of Loki's life. "So what do you do these days?" Loki leaned back, kicking his boots off.

"Currently, I should be trying to stop my homicidal daughter and son from destroying Asgard. I don't know if it would be any use at this point. There is only so much you can do as a father." He shrugged and En's eyes widened.

"You're a father?" En was shocked to hear that. Loki didn't strike him as the parental type. Loki nodded.

"And a mother, but I'm not going to talk about it and you're not going to ask," Loki added, causing En to furrow his brows. He and did not ask, nor did he want to. "It's a little inconvenient. Three of my four kids want the universe to burn." He explained, getting comfortable in the seat he was in. The Grandmaster gave a little shrug after that.

"Seems so. Especially seeing as you're staying here instead of going to stop them." En pointed out, grinning a little at him. Loki frowned, looking out the window.

"Their minds are set on it. There is nothing I can do now." Loki explained, seeing no other way to save them. En looked over at him, wondering if maybe there was something he could indeed do. He decided to drop the subject, not wanting to make the other feel bad either. He decided to just leave it at that, steering the ship back to the dock. The day was still young and there were other things that he wanted to show Loki. He felt like a young being again, eager to show his world to someone else. He hoped that this someone wouldn't prove to be just a fleeting thing. Who knew if Loki would stick around longer than two days?

Once they got back to the dock, En led Loki to another part of the tower. It was an actual room full of art. It wasn't Midgardian art, but something else entirely. It was mind-blowing how much detail and beauty were contained in each of the paintings. En looked around with Loki.

"What do you see?" En asked curiously, wondering what the trickster's response would be.

"I see the universe... beauty.. darkness.." Loki mused, walking back and forth to each painting to find similarities and differences.

"They're mine." The Grandmaster admitted and looked around the hall of art. Even the walls and ceiling had been painted one way or another. The paintings were of what the Grandmaster could see of the universe.

"These are... incredible." Loki replied. He always had an eye for art. He never took it for granted because he knew that it was a window into the artist's soul. What the artist withheld, he or she expelled it into their art. He saw a beautiful tragedy before his eyes, and that was the only way he could think to describe En Dwi Gast. He was a unique individual who hid behind humor and comedy, his soul filled with horror and beauty.

Chapter 2: Change

His mind had been overwhelmed as he thought about the art, trying to think about it in-depth. Loki stood there for a few minutes, his eyes tracing over every incredibly small detail. He didn't want to miss a single thing.

"Don't think about it too much, just feel," En explained, his hands on Loki's shoulders, tapping his fingertips on Loki's armor. His nails were painted electric blue, which was quite fitting for someone who looked like they stuck their finger in an electrical socket to do their hair.

"Only you have the intelligence to view this room as it really is." En added to that statement, leaning in behind the trickster. He grinned, knowing that Loki could definitely figure out the secret to it all. Stepping closer to the portrait of a planet, he stuck his hand out and brushed his fingertips against the frame, half-expecting to hit the painting. Imagine his surprise when his hand simply glided right through it. Loki felt the openness and stillness of space and he gently pulled his hand back, afraid he might lose it.

"It's a portal. You paint portals.." Loki couldn't help but be impressed, looking around him at all of the star systems and planets he had painted.

"You're free to travel to any of them," The Grandmaster mused as he brushed his fingertips over Loki's shoulder, then caressed his raven hair. "Just do me a favor and come back to me." The way he said it was something that was so sensual, yet filled with longing. "I know this trash planet isn't enough for you. You long for adventure, so here's a place to start. We can get away from Thanos, y'know, start life anew." Turning around to face him, Loki smiled in disbelief.

"You're being genuine about this, aren't you? My apologies if I'm having a hard time believing that anyone would drop everything to be with me.. Especially in a matter of two days." Loki spoke in disbelief, shaking his head. En gently took Loki's face in his hands.

"When you become as old as I am, you realize that certain opportunities are once in a lifetime." En explained, twirling a strand of Loki's hair. That explanation got to Loki. He always hated showing emotion, but this time he couldn't hold it back. All of his life, everyone had always treated him as less than, and now here En was, offering him everything he could ever want in life. The god closed his eyes in an attempt to hold back his tears and he failed miserably.

"Fuck. I.. don't.." Loki couldn't find words as he brought up a hand to wipe away his tears, but En was already on it, his thumb brushing away the crystalline stream. He then pulled Loki close, holding the god while Loki laid his head on his shoulder. He never wanted to leave this place. It wasn't like Loki to place every ounce of his trust in someone else, but he felt in his soul that En was sincere.

"You know what would make you feel better? I could give you a little makeover.." There En was with his humor, making everything better. Loki smiled slightly and nodded, taking En's hand and walking with him back to the Grandmaster's private chambers. Once there, En sat him down on the bed.

"Alright, so first, I'm going to get you some more comfortable clothes. Mine will do. The pants might be, uh, slightly too long for you, but that's fine." En grinned a little as he spoke, rummaging through his drawers to find something. In just a few moments, he'd found some clothes that were similar to what the Grandmaster was wearing at the moment. The comfy pants were grey and the shirt was yellow with a blue vest. It was like En's inverted color scheme. After Loki had changed into his clothes, En got his makeup supplies out.

"Right, so you can't rule a planet without looking like you mean it. Blue eyeliner is a must. So is that little blue paint thing I do. Especially because you have such a clean shaven baby face." En teased a little, then concentrated as he put on Loki's makeup, grinning to himself as he completed his masterpiece. "Oh wow.. I did a great job on you." En almost sounded surprised, but then he remembered something and his eyes widened. "That hair. Let it loose. Let it breathe a little." He ran his fingers through Loki's hair and combed it out to make it less slicked back into place. After he'd done that, he noticed the braid. Loki had a small braid in his hair for a long time, and nothing that happened between he and Thor would ever make him take it out. It was a little way for him to hold onto Asgard, as redundant as that might seem. En knew it had to be something special, so he ignored it, smiling as he pulled out a mirror, showing him his newly made over face. Loki's eyes widened a little.

"Not bad. I don't pull it off as well as you, however." Loki spoke, chuckling, and the Grandmaster blushed.

"Hey.. uh, thanks." En stammered, not used to the compliments either. Regardless or not whether he got them, he had an amazing self-esteem because he loved himself so much. The trickster then stood up, twirling around for effect.

"You were right. It's veeeeery comfy." Loki spoke, almost with a sarcastic edge to his voice. En gave him a wink and leaned back on the bed.

"There will be an arena fight later. You should come," En started, then remembered something else. "The big fight is five days from now. My champion will be fighting a new contender. We haven't really selected one yet, but I'm sure we'll find one through training. My champion usually obliterates everyone here." Chuckling, he shook his head. "They're daft to think they can win against him." Loki raised an eyebrow, walking back over.

"Who is your champion?" Loki inquired and a cunning smile crept onto En's lips.

"It's a surprise. You'll have to find out in five days." Loki rolled his eyes playfully, honestly wanting to know.

"Alright, well, you brought this up why?" Loki asked curiously, looking to the Grandmaster.

"I brought it up because I love the Contest of Champions. I invented it, so why not?" En shrugged and walked over to the window, revealing the city beneath the giant tower. It was more of his nerdy passion. Instead of using his immense power to rule the universe, he would rather play games. "Truthfully? I love it here, but at the same time, the people are trying to overthrow me. I don't know why." The trickster raised his eyebrow a little.

"Maybe because they don't want to play your game? Or that they value their freedom?" Loki suggested, hoping he wasn't stepping on En's toes in any way.

"Don't want to play my game? Ridiculous!" En shook his head, his arms crossed as he looked out the window.

"Think about it.. would you want to be a slave to someone's game?" The hypothetical question was posed by Loki. En turned to him.

"The point is that I am not a s-well, prisoner with a job, because I am an elder of the universe. I've been around longer than any of these creatures. They don't value life as I do," En explained, but it was more like an excuse. "And I don't like that word. Don't use that word. They've been given an opportunity to better themselves." The god simply shrugged, then walked over to the mirror, checking himself out. En raised his own eyebrow.

"Do you not approve? After all, you-" En cut himself off, not wanting to offend Loki, but it was too late.

"I 'what' exactly? I've done worse? For the love of Odin please tell me that's not what you're saying right now." Loki pled with him as he felt an anger bubble up inside of him, mixed with hurt. En shook his head.

"Forget it. Forget I mentioned it." En tried to do some damage control, but the damage was already done.

"I thought you were different, but you're just like everyone else.." Loki hated it when people brought up his less-than-perfect past. En placed a hand on his own forehead.

"Look, you're doing the same thing to me. I know I don't have the greatest system set up, but I'm trying to change that," En attempted to dig himself out of the hole he'd figuratively dug. The trickster chewed his bottom lip nervously.

"Don't ever bring up my past. It's not a good idea." He mumbled and En walked over to him, wrapping his arms around Loki's slightly smaller frame.

"I apologize. You know I didn't mean it like that," En murmured, trying to help Loki feel better. "Things just.. they come out wrong when I'm trying to say them." The trickster sighed softly, having had quite enough for the day. What he truly wanted was a nice Asgardian bubble bath, but he knew that he wasn't going to get that with Hela in charge of Asgard. Thor had come and upset everything.. but now he had En. En was someone to confide in, someone to have fun with.

"What if we did leave?" Loki asked, wondering what En's opinion was on it. "Like you said, your people are trying to overthrow you.. we could leave and go to another planet." En placed his chin on Loki's shoulder as he leaned in.

"I've been thinking about that, actually," En mused, but he honestly didn't want to leave because he was in charge. En started to playfully massage Loki's shoulders, thinking about it as he did.

"How about.. I tell you in a week. Next week, we can discuss it. I need time to think." En explained, then moved away from Loki. "Let's get ready for the fight."

During the week, the arena was the place where small gladiator fights went down. They were small scale, but still just as entertaining. The Grandmaster really got into fights like these between species, but he really seemed immune to the death going on. It was like he just saw it as a huge game without consequence. He sat with Loki on the couch, watching a match below them intently. It seemed almost unfair, especially because one of the contenders looked like a gigantic monster and the other was merely human-like in stature. Blood splattered across the arena and Loki cringed. It was a bit out of his comfort zone, even though he'd fought in wars previous to this. He hoped that if they left, things would be different. Once the battle was over and the human-like competitor lay dead at the monster's feet, Loki looked over to the Grandmaster.

"So, do you like other types of games?" Loki honestly didn't know. He was schooled on The Elders as a child, but he hadn't paid too much attention because he was always pestering Thor. He mostly wanting to see if En would want to watch or play a game that wasn't so brutal.

"All kinds. I've mastered every game in the universe. A lifetime for me is billions of years, as I stated before," En said it like it was nothing.

"What's your favorite one? I mean, if you had to choose?" The trickster scooted closer on the couch. It was almost like En didn't want to be seen with him in public. The Grandmaster took note of the sudden change of distance, but didn't make any intimate moves.

"Surprisingly, or rather not surprisingly enough, this one." The Grandmaster smiled a little, watching them carry out the body. "I don't watch for the blood, I watch for the sport." Loki nodded, though he wasn't sure if he bought that. En picked up on that, having his extrasensory senses.

"You think I'm a sadist, don't you?" En asked him, right to his face. As nice as En was before, it was certainly gone now. Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Not particularly, but I just think that the game is somewhat unfair," Loki pointed out, looking at the next pairing. "You pair the smallest of warriors with the most brutal. It's because you know who'll win." En gave him a nasty glare, then turned his focus back to the game. Loki couldn't help but find himself dumbfounded. En was so calm and kind around him earlier, maybe it was him putting on a tough facade for his subjects. At least that's what Loki hoped he was doing. The match lasted quite some time and Loki decided it best to drink some more before talking to the Grandmaster again. Once the match was over, En stood and motioned for Loki to follow him, and Loki obediently followed. Reaching the confines of En's personal chambers once more, Loki found himself in a confrontational mood.

"What was that all about?" Loki asked, his tone a little more demanding than usual. He grabbed En's arm, commanding his attention.

"What was what?" En asked, oblivious to whatever he'd just done.

"You acted like a dick in there." Loki pointed out, not going to be blunt about it at all. He didn't want to have to deal with En in his public life differently.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's a thing I have to do to keep the masses in line." En explained as he pulled off his outer robe, getting ready for a shower.

"You don't have to be that way around me." Loki argued, not wanting to argue with him again, but knowing it was almost necessary to sort out their problems now. Luckily for him, En turned around and walked over to him, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"My precious princess Loki, I am sorry for upsetting you." En spoke, partly sarcastic, but more in a playful way. "I'll be less of a dick to you, promise." Loki wanted to be angry, but he couldn't stay that way when En was apologizing.

"So... I need to bathe. Feel free to join me, kitten.." En purred, testing out nicknames on Loki. If he was going to be around for a while, he'd need a good nickname. Loki longed to return to Asgard to help Thor fight Hela, but he didn't even know if Thor was alive. The fact that his daughter would fight to the death wasn't appealing to him either, but what if En was right? Should he go back and fight? Currently, the biggest decision he had to make was going to take a bath with the Grandmaster or not, and he was completely content with that. Loki started to take his Sakaarian garb off and walked with En to his personal bathing room. It was definitely very 'extra', but everything about the Grandmaster was that way. The walls were like Asgard's ocean, glittering like glass. The bath itself was already prepared, no doubt because En had asked the servants to prepare it. It was steaming hot and there were plenty of bubbles. A lavender scent wafted through the air. All of this still felt like a dream, and Loki knew he didn't want to wake up from it. En stripped the rest of the way down, stepping into the warm water. He let out a soft noise of satisfaction as he submerged his body. Loki stripped down the rest of the way right after that, brushing his fingertips through his hair. En grinned as he looked at him from the water.

"As much as I want to keep admiring you, come here. The water feels amazing." En urged him, motioning with a polished fingertip. Loki stepped in, sinking into it with a happy smile on his lips. As a frost giant, things had to be extremely hot to satisfy him, because he was almost like a cold blooded snake.

"You are definitely right about that. Ah~" Loki leaned back against the wall of the bath area. It was only a matter of a few moments before En pulled the 'yawn and reach your arm around the other person trick'. Loki thought it was awfully cheesy, but that was one of his favorite things about the Grandmaster. En smiled charmingly over at him, brushing a strand of Loki's hair behind his ear.

"How does a being like you come about?" En asked, taking in all of Loki's features. That was another thing about him. He was always asking existential questions, eliciting all of the best answers.

"Myths about me say that I was born from fire and wood," He started to answer. "Fire cannot be tamed, thus why I was given that characteristic backstory, I suppose. I was actually born to the frost giants, Fárbauti and Laufey. I've no idea where I acquired my magic from, but that's why I look Asgardian. When Odin found me, he saw me and says that I just...turned into a normal looking Asgardian child." Loki accidentally let it slip that he was somewhat Odin's son.

"Odin? As in the Ruler of Asgard?" En inquired, and Loki nodded. "So your brother is the 'Mighty Thor'?"

"Yes and no. Adopted brothers. We don't get along so well." Loki managed to explain it in a way that it wouldn't offend and he was proud of himself. "Though it pains me to know that he might not be alive. The last thing I saw was Hela going after him on the Bifrost."

"So I know you said not to ask, but uh.. how did you come to procure these, what would you call it? Gifted children?" En was very curious and he hoped Loki would be able to tell him.

"Well, the normal way you would father children." Loki shrugged and looked over at En. "I guess my being a shapeshifter doesn't help things out." En didn't pry further, just wanting to enjoy his time with Loki.

"So do you actually live forever?" Loki questioned after a moment, leaning into En's embrace. The Grandmaster caressed his shoulder, nodding.

"As far as I know, I'm immortal. You?" En wasn't sure about gods. He spent his free time playing games and not researching gods.

"No.. 5000 years I think is how long we live. I'm on like year 1075 I think?" Loki shrugged, then thought about how abysmal that was compared to living forever. Noticing the look on Loki's face, the Grandmaster spoke up.

"I can keep you from dying. I don't really know if I can make you immortal, but I can certainly try." Grandmaster offered, not sure if Loki even wanted that or not.

"I don't know, honestly. It could be really fun, but I've just never considered the possibilities." Loki admitted, allowing himself to enjoy the bath instead of dwelling on things like time and age. Meanwhile, En had started to massage Loki's shoulders again.

"Your shoulders are so tense. You should try relaxing a bit more. That's why I look so good for billions of years old." En reminded him in his relaxed tone of voice. How could the Grandmaster be so relaxed if he'd seen so much? That was a mystery Loki had yet to discover. Loki closed his eyes, enjoying the massage as he leaned toward En's direction. The Grandmaster admired Loki not only for his looks but also for his intellect. It was incredibly to have someone who was mentally stimulating around. It was only a matter of time before he got too attached to go back, and even though it had only been two days, it felt like an eternity on Sakaar.

En started to braid Loki's hair into a fishtail braid, smiling to himself as he noticed his good work. The trickster chuckled, trying to stay still for him as he worked his magical fingers.

"You should braid your hair more often. It looks great with your raven hair." The Grandmaster mused, holding it still at the end before letting the braid go. Loki wasn't sure how intimate En wanted to be, seeing as things had been awkward, yet not, between them. He didn't know if En sleeping with him was a one time thing or if it was more, so he didn't want to overstep his boundaries by trying anything in the bathhouse. His answer came when En pulled Loki close, setting him down on his lap.

"Tell me what you most desire." En murmured, looking up at him as he trailed his fingertips down Loki's sides.

"Are you a fortune teller now?" Loki teased softly, not wanting to get into deep topics yet.

"No, just a curious being. Do you desire acceptance? Freedom? Love?" En again asked, not knowing if Loki would answer or not. Loki shook his head a little with a smile, not ready to talk about that yet.

"You'll find out soon enough what I desire, En Dwi Gast." He used the Grandmaster's full name, just as a flourish. He liked the way it rolled off his tongue. That caused En to lean in, kissing Loki again. This time it was a hungry type of kiss, one that longing was present in. It was almost like En was afraid to lose Loki. Loki kissed back, this time running his fingertips through En's electric white hair. En leaned into the kiss, playfully nipping at Loki's bottom lip. Loki grinned against the other's lips, not wanting him to stop kissing him. In time, they both ran out of breath, leaving them both almost dizzy. It was like the moments of passion between them, though few, were like a raging fire. As much as the thought of getting burned by a relationship haunted Loki, he still got closer, even though his mind told him not to.

By the time they'd finished getting 'clean', it was getting late. En had grabbed them both some towels and they'd dried off, not even bothering to slip any undergarments on before they slipped into the soft bed. En was sleepy from the long day, and truthfully, so was Loki. He curled up close to En and fell asleep within a few moments. When Loki woke up the next morning, En wasn't by his side. He actually woke up confused because he still wasn't used to being on Sakaar, or waking up nude in a stranger's bed. He sat up and stretched, then looked for some clothes to put on. Once he'd found some clothes that were more his style, he slipped them on and headed to breakfast. Breakfast on Sakaar was more of a private thing. The servants would make whatever Loki requested, not that he made too big of a fuss.

"Have you seen the Grandmaster?" Loki inquired of one of the servants, wondering where he could have went.

"No, your highness. I'm sure he'll be around shortly." The servant informed him and he nodded to her as a sign of thanks. Loki ate his breakfast and there was still no sign of En. Once he'd finished up, he walked around the main living area of En's quarters. There were no pictures anywhere, not even painted. He thought that was quite odd, but then again, it wasn't. The trickster sat down on the couch, relaxing, and he even accidentally fell asleep for a while. He woke up to En nudging his arm with his hand.

"Heeeeeey sleepyhead. It's good to see you." En smiled as Loki sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"It's good to see you too. I woke up and you were gone so I just... wandered over here I guess." Loki explained groggily and leaned against the back of the couch. "Where'd you go?"

"Oh, I just had to be up early to settle some things. You know, ruler duties and all." En explained, shrugging it off. It was such a nonchalant explanation that Loki didn't even question it. Instead, En offered a hand up and Loki took it. At this point, he followed En without question, which was probably more than reckless. En pulled him up gently, then looked around at the place.

"Honestly, there isn't too much to do here. It's Sakaar, that's why I've gotten so into all of the games. I definitely won't turn down any chess games, however." En shrugged a little and smiled, walking over to pull out the game. Even though they did speak during the chess game, something was different. Loki could tell that the Grandmaster was off from his usual bubbly self.

Even though they still stayed with each other at night, it was as if En had drifted from Loki, moving on from his temporary fixation on the god. Loki didn't want to pry at the risk of pushing him away, but a few days went by like that. One day in particular, the trickster was seated at one of the couches where En held his parties when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Loki.. LOKI!" The voice called out to him and he saw the blond haired fool he called his brother. In a hurry, he stood up and walked over, trying to remain calm.

"Thor, what are you doing here?" Loki demanded, more in his mind wondering how long Thor had been there to begin with. Loki was in his new clothes, and he hoped he didn't look too much like a traitor. Thor did his best to explain the situation, and then there En was. He acted like he had no clue what was going on. It was as if the whole past week hadn't happened. That trend continued long after the gladiator battle between Thor and the Hulk. Loki really got antsy when En called a special meeting in regards to Thor and the Hulk escaping.

"So I woke up this morning hoping for a public execution, but I'm going to let you two have a little 'see who gets them first thing'." En had made himself very clear as to what was going to happen, and Loki wasn't sure why he was acting that way. He had to leave, as much as it pained him to leave the one person he'd trusted. He was completely heartbroken over the whole thing. He didn't want to leave at all, but he made a break for it the first opportunity that came along.

After Loki left Sakaar, En found himself wishing he'd done something about it. He hated driving the wedge between them like that, but he'd had to do something incredibly awful, and he knew it would hurt Loki less in the end for him to drive Loki away. As he sat in his cushy chair alone, he couldn't hide the pain from his face. A servant bravely asked him what was wrong, but he shrugged off her question. He heard that the slaves were about to break down his door at any moment, so he did what he knew how to do best and hid from them, escaping. En got into a security pod and hid until he thought it might be safe. The next day he came out of it, thinking that it could be okay, but it was quite the opposite. The citizens were armed and ready to obliterate him. It was then that he realized what he had to do. He held up his hands in a sign of surrender, then disappeared. A little known talent of En's was that he could teleport. All he had to do was think of Loki and he would be where Loki was.

When En appeared, he was in a spaceship, in what appeared to be someone's room. Loki stood there side by side with his brother Thor and they were staring out the window. When Grandmaster saw the ship, he almost had a heart attack right then and there. It was Thanos, and En knew exactly why he had found them. Loki turned around, hearing the presence of someone else in the room. When he saw the Grandmaster, his eyes widened.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Loki demanded, seeming to be in a panicky state. En grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Look, I can explain, but for right now, we've got to go. NOW!" En sounded unnerved, which was unlike him. Loki wasn't really sure what was and wasn't like the Grandmaster at this point, however. Loki shook his head, trying not to tear up. He was overwhelmed by the turn of events, not to mention why the Grandmaster suddenly had a change of heart.

"Why did you come for me? You don't care! You never did!" Loki's voice was broken, almost like a flashback to a young Loki finding out he was adopted. "Tell me why I should even listen to you." He had silent tears rolling down his cheeks and Thor stood to the side, not knowing what was going on. He knew had no clue what the Grandmaster had to do with Loki's sadness.

"Loki, we've got to do something! Anything! Thanos will kill everyone here!" Thor shouted, not caring too heavily about the boyfriend drama that was occurring.

"Let him take me." Grandmaster spoke up, looking at both of them. "I'm the one that messed this up." Loki was very confused, his arms crossed angrily.

"H.. how did you cause this?" Loki stammered, afraid to know.

"Look, Loke.. I screwed up. It was my brother.. or you. I couldn't.. I didn't mean to. Thanos was going to kill Taneleer and I bargained for him with you, and that was wrong." En admitted, feeling like a part of the trash planet he used to live on. The god was now shaking with anger, not knowing how to respond. Thor ran off to try and steer the ship away, leaving the lovers to quarrel.

"I.. I can't fucking believe this. You'd sell me out so easily! My BROTHER doesn't deserve this! My PEOPLE don't deserve this! I could give less of a shit what happens to me, but YOU PROMISED ME. You promised me I would be safe and you couldn't even do that! I TRUSTED YOU." Loki was yelling through his angered tears at this point, his whole heart shattered. "I gave you everything! I thought you loved me.." Loki whispered the last part, shaking his head. "So much for that." It was like his heart had closed up again, building up walls to prevent him from getting hurt again.

Chapter 3: A Change of Heart

En's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"Loke.. Loki, no! I came back because I couldn't let that happen to you. Don't you see that? I care, and that's why I came back!" En tried to explain, but Loki was done hearing him talk. En had betrayed everything that he thought he knew. He pulled out his twin daggers, ready to do some damage.

"I can get us out of here, but we're running out of time. Loki please!" En tried to plead with him to see sense in the situation, but Loki wasn't budging.

"Not without my brother and my people." Loki finally managed to get out, his tone cold and distant. En nodded in understanding, then cautiously grabbed Loki's arm, pulling him into the main compartment of the spaceship. Everyone was gathered together there, awaiting their fate. Thanos' voice was coming over the loudspeaker of the Sakaarian ship and he sounded like he wasn't going to easily be swayed. Thor looked to Loki, angry at him again, thinking it was all his fault. En walked up to the front of the room, getting everyone's attention.

"Everyone! My name is the Grandmaster and I am here to get you all out of this sticky situation!" En announced and the crowd fell silent. He then looked to Loki, his voice more vulnerable and soft. "I have to link with your magic to get everyone to safety." Loki looked at his hand and slowly took it, though only for the sake of saving everyone. In a matter of minutes, they were sitting still. Sunlight poured through the compartment of the spaceship. They were definitely on Earth. Loki slipped his hand out of En's, trying to make a break for the exit, but the Grandmaster hurried after him.

Loki hurried outside, trying to get to somewhere he could be alone. He hated showing outward emotions. Odin had always taught Thor and Loki that crying was a sign of weakness, so Loki always made sure to hide it. His favorite place to cry when he was a child was the stables, mainly because he felt like the animals would listen without judging him. En gripped his arm as he caught up, not letting him go.

"Let me go!" Loki tried to shake his arm off. He spoke commandingly, his voice lower and more serious, even though he was trying not to break. En shook his head.

"Hear me out." En pled with him and Loki turned, his arms crossed. He didn't want to listen to him. "Loki, I know it sounds awful, but I did it before I realized.." The Grandmaster stopped and took a deep breath, bringing his hands up together in front of his lips. "Before I realized that I love you." Loki looked at him, frowning more as he thought about it. En's heart hammered in his chest.

"Don't say that." Loki spoke to En, shaking his head. "Don't say things you don't mean."

"But I do! Lokes, I do! I love you. I've never said that to anyone. I've always had these short flings with people and they've, uh, never gone this far. Thanos wanted to kill my brother.. I know you would have done the same thing. This is not one of my finer moments, but I saved us all from him in the end.." En tried to explain and Loki looked at him silently, hurt in his eyes.

"Everyone has always lied to me," Loki started to say after a moment of being silent. "I hoped you were the one who would be different." En's hopeful face fell.

"Please.. just let me be different. Please give me a second chance." The Grandmaster begged with him, something that he normally didn't do for anyone. Loki just stood there watching him beg, not moving a muscle toward or away from him. En walked closer slowly, afraid to upset him any more than he already had. En reached out his hand to Loki. "I won't do anything like that ever again." The Grandmaster caressed Loki's cheek cautiously, looking into his eyes. He didn't know if the trickster would forgive him this time. Loki reached his hand up to touch En's, looking back into the other's eyes.

"I.. I forgive you." Loki murmured and En nodded, leaning in a little. It was so unlike Loki to forgive someone, but truth be told, he was barely hanging on without En in his life. "But I won't forget this." That simple statement was strong. Loki wanted to make it known that he wasn't about to just let En back into his life right after him doing something as idiotic as that. The Grandmaster moved closer, embracing Loki, giving him an apology kiss as he caressed the trickster's cheek. By that time, Thor had caught a glimpse of their embrace, seeing En kissing his brother. Thor waited until En had moved away to confront Loki about it. Thor pulled Loki to the side, his grip tight on his brother's arm.

"What are you doing?" Thor asked, his voice concerned and his facial expression full of confusion. Loki furrowed his brows and then chuckled softly.

"Are you talking about me kissing the Grandmaster?" Loki asked, knowing that had to be what was pissing Thor off.

"Yes! I'm talking about you kissing the man that sold us out! The man who enslaved me hoping I would die in his arena and the man that kept Banner there for his entertainment!" Thor was clearly upset by that, and Loki could see why.

"Look, I know him differently than you do." Loki attempted to explain before Thor interrupted him.

"Clearly. I'm not the one passionately embracing the man who tried to kill me." Thor interceded.

"He tried to kill you, not me." Loki clarified, smiling a little. "I would have stopped him if he went too far."

"Thad beside the point, Loki. He's an Elder of the Universe." The thunder god now held Loki's shoulders as if about to shake some sense into him.

"Now that's just rude. Just because of his age, you'd judge me?" Loki was offended, hoping that wasn't what he meant.

"Loki, no. He's dangerous. He's defeated Thanos and Galactus before. He can read minds, control matter, and control death. Are you sure you want to be sleeping with someone that powerful? He's manipulating you." Thor was being protective, and Loki understood that, but it was going too far.

"He's not manipulating me, Thor! He really cares about me, and if you did, you'd shut up about it." Loki retorted, moving away from him. "You and I just made up after years of fighting. Please don't fight with me again, brother." Loki pled with him. Thor looked at Loki, being a little slow to figure things out. His eyes widened as he put together the whole 'Grandmaster has orgies on his spaceship' thing.

"Have you slept with him, brother?" Thor attempted to accuse him in a hushed tone, but he had been too shocked to keep very quiet.

"First of all, that's none of your business. Secondly, yes." Loki gave him a small smirk, knowing it would drive his brother insane to know that.

"He is literally the worst person you could sleep with." Thor argued, then Loki thought about it, shaking his head.

"No, I'm pretty sure that Tony would be the worst person I could sleep with." Loki corrected him and Thor's eyes widened even more.

"At least Tony doesn't have the power to kill you and read your mind simultaneously!" Thor replied and shook his head. "You're out of your damn mind, Loki. You're a grown man, but you're also my brother. If he hurts you again, he will not live to see another day."

"Not to rain on your parade, but he's immortal. And the fact that he controls death leads me to believe that he can't die.." Loki spoke, mainly to annoy Thor. "Which isn't good news for you." Thor rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Brother, you never learn." Thor replied softly before walking away. It was only a matter of moments before the Grandmaster got back to Loki. He grinned, ready to say something positively sassy.

"So, it seems that sparkles is very protective of you." En murmured into Loki's ear and the god smirked before raising an eyebrow.

"Wait, how did you know that?" Loki inquired, wondering if he'd been spying on them.

"Oh, I uh, should have told you, I can read minds. I try not to be too nosy, but I wanted to know what sparkles thought of me." En admitted, which was met by Loki with a soft smile.

"Sparkles. How did I not come up with that first?" Loki spoke playfully and then looked around them. They had landed in a giant field, presumably on Earth like En had said previously. "Look, En, we've got to get changed into something more suited for Midgard here. After that, maybe we start looking for a place to stay? If only for a short while?" He couldn't believe he was talking moving in with the Grandmaster, especially after the shit he'd just pulled on Loki in space. Loki was still shaken from seeing Thanos again, and he didn't know whether he could trust that En wouldn't do that again. "Especially me. Midgard doesn't really 'like me' if you know what I mean."

"You're right, but you can catch me up on that later. Let's get going before your brother kills me." En spoke, almost teasingly, grinning to Loki. The god started walking with En and then glanced over to him.

"Couldn't you maybe teleport us to where we need to go?" Loki asked, knowing it was worth a shot. He would've been okay to walk in his gear, but En was just wearing sandals, not really meant for walking.

"I would, but unless I can specifically picture the place, I might accidentally put us somewhere we don't want to be." En explained and Loki shrugged.

"It's going to be a long walk." Loki commented and he glanced over at En, shocked to see him doing some sort of magic. En had changed his clothes into a hoodie, some jeans, and some hiking boots. They were the same colors as his robes, so the hoodie was blue, the jeans grey, and the shoes were a glittering gold, but that wasn't what fascinated Loki. "You're not a shapeshifter, are you?" He inquired and En simply smiled and shook his head.

"No, I can manipulate matter. Anything that exists, I can change." En explained to Loki, leaving the trickster speechless.

"It seems I'm now the one who is overdressed." Loki mused as he shifted into something similar to what En had just conjured. "You've still got blue paint on your chin. I guess we can tell people you're heading to Coachella.." He was teasing this time as he nudged En playfully. En smirked and pulled Loki close, kissing him a little sloppily. As he pulled away, his paint was smeared. En looked at his masterpiece that now covered both of their mouths and chins.

"Now we match. Tell them we're both going to.. Co- Coachella?" En spoke, not really sure what Loki was referring to, but he didn't want to be out of the loop on the joke. Loki gently touched his lip, coming away with blue metallic paint on his fingertip.

"Touché." Loki rolled his eyes playfully.

As they walked down the path in the woods for a couple of hours, Loki was getting restless. He turned to En, stopping him for a moment.

"What if I described a place for you? Do you think you could get us there? It's honestly the last place I want to be, but I think they can help us." Loki explained, looking to En and hoping he could help.

"Maaaaybe. I'm not one hundred percent sure it would work, but we can try. At least we would both be stuck there together." En responded, holding his hands out to Loki. "Alright, communicate to me what this place looks like."

"Well, it's in a big city called New York. The guy they call Iron Man owns this building and it's a really tall tower with a giant 'A' on it for 'Avengers'. I'm not entirely sure they'll be happy to see us, but I should be able to talk my way in." Loki started off, hoping that En got the picture just from that. En nodded and gripped Loki's hands a little tighter.

"Okay. Got it.. I think." En nodded again and teleported them. Teleportation was something Loki was used to because of the Bifrost, but En's teleportation felt a bit more intimate than that. He held onto the other as tightly as he could, afraid he might fall out and land on a different planet again. Loki gripped the Grandmaster's hoodie, taking in his scent discreetly. He still smelled like lavender from the bath, along with a hint of jasmine. Loki had found that En often smelled floral, which he really enjoyed. The men of Asgard always smelled of leather and battle, but he was new to this softer scent palette. When they'd finally teleported, the first thing Loki heard was a familiar voice.

"What the hell?" It was the voice of none other than Tony Stark. Loki finally opened his eyes and he was still clinging to En for dear life, definitely a little more friendly than the Avengers were used to seeing him. En grinned a little.

"Greetings, earthling." En spoke in a playful robotic voice. Loki rolled his eyes playfully, not making a move to leave En's side. Tony raised an eyebrow, putting two and two together as he saw the blue paint and the smudged paint on Loki's lips.

"You must be Loki's space boyfriend." Tony spoke in a cat-who-ate-the-canary tone, then glanced to Banner, who happened to be standing over to the side in the shadows of the room. "You know, Banner told us that you tried to kill Thor." Tony looked at En Dwi Gast accusingly. "He also mentioned that Thor told him Loki must have the tesseract. Thanos wouldn't have been able to find you without it." Loki narrowed his eyes at Tony, trying not to get too upset.

"He's already accusing me of things again, I see. Well, you can check, and considering I don't have anywhere to store it, I definitely don't have it. And it's not up my ass." Loki retorted sarcastically. En was somewhat lost in the conversation, but he looked to Loki, not wanting to confirm or deny their relationship without Loki doing it first. Banner looked at him accusingly.

"You're the god of lies, Loki. Why should we believe you?" He spoke, somewhat tired of Loki's games by now. Steve was standing to the side with his shield ready to fight, and Clint emerged from the hallway with his bow.

"Wow. Relax! I just got out of a war, do you really think I want to start another?" Loki spoke softly and looked to En. "Truthfully? En and I are looking for safe room and board. We escaped with our lives but there is nothing left of Asgard. I know you don't trust me, but this time I'm desperate." Tony was eating it right up. He shook his head.

"If.. and that's a huge if. If you want to stay here, I'll allow it, but I'm going to be monitoring you two. Try anything funny and we'll imprison you both." Tony spoke authoritatively, glancing around the room. "I'll get your brother to do that when he gets back."
Loki relaxed a little and Vision tilted his head, looking at Loki.

"You have a little something on your chin." He spoke in his soothing AI voice. Loki then remembered having kissed En, the paint rubbing off on him. He blushed hard, turning to En to get away from the accusatory eyes before him.

"Many thanks.. uh.. what is your name?" En asked Tony, not trying to be rude. Tony practically had a heart attack because of En not knowing his name.

"It's Tony. Tony Stark." Tony replied cooly. En smiled charmingly at him and stepped forward, extending a hand to him.

"My name is En Dwi Gast. I am the Grandmaster, an Elder of the Universe. Pleased to meet you." En grinned and shook his hand. Tony just stood there awestruck as Vision came to lead them to their rooms. As they were walking to the rooms, En looked to Vision.

"I'm sure one room would be fine, right Loki? Less guards you'd have to post." En spoke playfully to Vision and Loki almost chuckled.

"How did you two come to be?" Vision asked, finally getting the hang of human interaction. Loki raised an eyebrow and kept walking, deciding to just keep it brief.

"We met on Sakaar." Loki replied, leaving the rest up for interpretation.

"Sakaar, galaxy Fornax, star system Tayo. Population one point five million." Vision responded and En looked quite impressed. Loki shrugged a little, not really sure how Vision did it. He hadn't been around when they'd added all of the new Avengers to the team, so Vision was new to him. En brushed his fingertips against Loki's, gently taking hold of his hand. Loki still wasn't happy with how En had basically sold him out, but he knew he couldn't be too angry because they'd only known each other for a couple of days. It had felt like an eternity in his mind, but he couldn't blame the Grandmaster for wanting to save his brother. Once they finally got to the room, Loki walked in with En, looking around. It was nice, especially with the layout. The bed was quite large, draped in black sheets and a black comforter. Loki smirked. The darker the room scheme, the better. En smirked and closed the door behind them, playfully leading Loki toward the bed. The Grandmaster nuzzled Loki's neck and pushed him gently back onto the bed.

"Hey... hey now." Loki scolded him, trying to be serious, but it came out more playful than he intended.

"Hey, if they're going to watch us, we might as well put on a show for them, hm?" En responded, then took Loki's hands, pulling up. "What do you say we get this whole thing settled first? The Grandmaster still had the betrayal weighing heavily on his conscience. "Look, I know it wasn't a good idea to do that, but in my defense, I sold you out on the first day. I had no idea that we were really going to be a thing.." En started to explain. Loki was seated on the edge of the bed, looking at En, who was now crouched down to look him in the eyes. "I wouldn't lie to you. At least, not about important things."

"That's good to know, I suppose. Like I stated before, I forgive you." Loki reminded him and the Grandmaster sighed softly.

"But there was that little foreboding shadowy 'I won't forget' part. That's the part I'm concerned about now." En explained and Loki took a deep breath.

"All you need to concern yourself with now is earning my trust back, right? That shouldn't be too hard. I look into your eyes and I get lost." Loki admitted, looking into the Grandmaster's dark brown eyes. "That isn't some superpower of yours, is it?" He was half-serious, half-not.

"No. Trust me, if I had super eyes, I would have shown them off by now." En grinned, flashing his white teeth briefly. It was then that he stood back up from his crouch, taking a seat beside Loki on the bed. "You didn't really mention why those people are mad at you." He spoke in referral to the Avengers.

"Well.. I sort of launched an attack on Earth with the Chitauri after being given an infinity stone. A lot of New York was destroyed.. there were a lot of casualties." Loki explained, shrugging a little. "Truth be told, Thor has never trusted me, mainly because I used to play tricks on him as a child. He acts like he's so strong, but once I bring up one of those tricks, he gets really defensive." Loki was happy to be talking about something other than Thanos for now. Thanos was so close to capturing him once more. The first time almost killed him. Loki closed his eyes as he felt a panic attack coming on. Merely the thought of Thanos would drive him into a state of sheer anxiety and fear. It was like he was taken back in time.

[Flashback]

The first thing Loki could remember was darkness. He woke up in a state of confusion, his body aching more than it had ever hurt before. His head was throbbing, but it took him no time at all to remember what he was doing when he fell. He'd hoped the fall would kill him and put him out of his misery, but he couldn't even do that right. He hated himself, and more importantly, he hated his so-called family for not telling him about his true parentage. He had no time to think more on the subject when he heard a deep voice.

"Who are you, Asgardian?" The voice resounded against the darkness, so he assumed he was in a cave or a room or something. The man laughed eerily as if he were waiting for a moment to strike at Loki. Loki tried to lift himself up from his laying position, but his body met his will with equal stubbornness.

"I am Loki. Loki Laufeyson. And I am not a damn Asgardian." Loki growled, feeling the texture beneath his fingertips. He conjured up a green flame at his fingertips with what little energy he had left and he immediately wished he hadn't. The man knocked him back with a large object, almost like a slap to the face. Loki groaned, laying back down.

"You are not worthy to gaze upon my face yet, my servant." The stranger spoke with such arrogance. Arrogance that Loki wished he could punch right out of whomever had hit him.

"I am not your servant. I am a King!" Loki retorted, then eased back, thinking his sass might earn him another punishment.

"That's the spirit." The stranger grinned to himself and lit a torch, revealing his gigantic persona. He was Thanos, the Mad Titan. Even Thor, with all his strength had needed assistance before in defeating him. Loki had a feeling that he wasn't going anywhere. "I'll mold you into who you need to be. I'll make you a King." Thanos smiled and laughed. "Get up."

"All due respect, I can't." Loki replied, his body now stinging and burning in protest.

"You think you know pain? You know nothing of pain." Thanos spoke irritably, yanking Loki up by his outfit's collar. Loki whimpered as he felt his body protest the motion.

After that day, it was always a version of that. Thanos would feed him some lines about how he was worthy and how his brother pushed him off the bridge. If he said them wrong, he was punished. His punishments consisted of burning and heat torture, as well as electric shock treatment. He learned very quickly to play along with the game. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, he started believing the things that Thanos was telling him.

[End of Flashback ]

The next thing Loki knew, he was seated on the bed beside En, his chest tight and his breath shaky and rapid. He reached out for En and En was already there, his arms wrapped around Loki.

"Hey.. Loke.. it's going to be alright. Just breathe." En reminded him and Loki tried his best to calm down. His whole body felt numb and he wanted to break down. Instead, he buried his face in En's hoodie, the Grandmaster staying with him as he calmed down.

"It really means a lot to me that you stay through all of this." Loki finally spoke as he started to calm down. "I just.. I can't think about Th-.. well, you know who I'm referring to. He did awful things to me." En frowned and gently rubbed his back.

"I'll make sure that never happens. I truly do promise this time." En assured him and Loki leaned up a little, just enough to slip his lips up against En's familiar soft lips. His eyelids fluttered shut and En cupped his cheek, kissing back lovingly. Loki grinned a little into the kiss, playfully laying En back on the bed as they kissed. He ran his fingertips through En's hair, then gently pulled away. He straddled the Grandmaster's hips, intertwining his fingers with En's as he rested there, admiring him from that angle.

"I think you've let yourself relax since I first met you." Loki smiled down at him, looking at his puppy love expression on his face.

"You think so? I honestly wasn't doing much of anything before you got there. Just watching battles.. executing people. Normal stuff." En spoke nonchalantly, but followed it up with a coy smile.

"Ah, well, you just had it made there. Too bad you had to follow me to Midgard. It's a struggle down here. No one has magic, save a few talented individuals." Loki mused and En gently pulled Loki back in with his hands.

"C'mere you. I think you're stalling." En spoke teasingly and Loki grinned.

"Now we're bickering like a married couple." Loki pointed out, teasing. En wrapped his arms around Loki's waist, keeping him close. The trickster chuckled softly and kissed him once more, getting down to what they both wanted.

"Tony! What the hell are you doing?" Steve exclaimed as he saw Tony watching the camera that had been so discreetly placed in Loki and En's room.

"Language, Cap." Tony spoke sarcastically and then spun around in his swivel chair. "Look at them. What the hell is this? I thought it was for an act, but they're actually about to.." Tony then turned around, seeing Loki's naked ass right before his eyes. His eyes widened and he shut the feed off. "I'll give them a little privacy."

"Which is what you should have been doing in the first place." Steve pointed out, sighing. "It's none of our business. Even after all that Loki has done, I think we should trust him this once. He seemed genuine."

"Says the man whose popsicle soldier boyfriend almost killed him because he was too afraid to act." Tony pointed out and Steve glared at him.

"Don't bring Bucky into this." Steve spoke angrily and Tony stood up, facing him.

"Why not now? It's always Bucky this and Bucky that, but now when I bring up the truth, you don't want to hear it?" Tony exclaimed, looking at Cap with hurt in his eyes.

"You're angry because everything isn't about you, anymore." Steve frowned, then turned to leave.

"Last time I checked, I created two different mechanical systems to make our jobs easier for all of us. I built the tower, I built the training facility, and I fund every activity we do here!" Tony argued right back.

"See, you don't get it. It's still all about you." Steve wanted the last word and he got it. Tony rubbed the bridge of his nose, not wanting to get Steve worked up any more than he already was. Truth be told? He was jealous that Bucky was stealing all of Steve's attention. Tony craved Steve's approval. Steve was such an emblem of hope and.. it didn't hurt that he was attractive too. Tony just never said anything to Steve because he knew exactly how Steve felt about him. It was far from what Tony was hoping.

Meanwhile, Banner sat on the couch of Avenger's Tower, just taking in how nice it felt to be back on Earth. He was honestly afraid to see Natasha after everything that had occurred previously to him going ballistic as the Hulk and leaving Earth. Everyone else in the room seemed to want more information, but they were too afraid that it might upset him. Everything now revolved on making Banner happy, which upset Banner more because he felt like everyone was afraid of him. Wanda walked over to him, taking a seat beside him. Maybe everyone else was afraid of him, but she was't. She knew what it was like to be treated differently, and she was working hard to make sure no one else felt that way.

"Bruce, welcome back." Wanda spoke in a kind voice, but not trying to patronize him in any way. Bruce smiled a little, glad to hear a familiar voice talking to him like he was a normal person. It was sad that no one really cared about Bruce anymore, the guy who had seven PhDs. No, to everyone he was the Hulk, and he hated everything about that. He definitely was struggling to cope with the terror of transforming permanently into the Hulk, but now that he was back on Earth, he could continue doing meditative exercises with Tony. Tony was the only other person who really understood him, and he wasn't there right now either.

"Thank you, its good to be back." Bruce responded calmly, nodding. Wanda looked around at the others and thought of a good idea.

"I think we should have a welcome back party for Bruce and Thor. Of course, it'll have to wait until Thor gets back as well, but I think it would break up the gloomy mood about this place." Wanda suggested, looking around to see if anyone else thought her suggestion was a good idea. She was never the one to suggest happy things or parties, but here she was, trying to cheer up a fellow Avenger. It seemed like everyone was changing these days. Loki had a space boyfriend and wasn't focused on ruling over worlds anymore, Tony and Cap had grown apart, Bruce was more fragile than he was at the start of forming the Avengers, and Wanda was coming out of her shell. All any of them wanted to do now was protect the planet, and they had no idea what was coming next.

Notes:

I just want to thank you all for being supportive and leaving kudos for my story! I love these two characters and I have so many ideas for them. Also, I did a ton of research on Grandmaster just to make sure that I was correctly representing him. As for Loki, well, I've been a fan for years, so I've read books and books about him. Feel free to leave comments and make suggestions as well. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Chapter 4: Secrets

Notes:

Seeing as this chapter is titled "Secrets", I bet you're wondering why. I guess you'll have to read to find out. ;)

Loki and En stayed with each other in their room, not particularly fond of the idea of leaving the confines of their space together. Loki didn't want to face the Avengers, and En was unfamiliar to Earth, so he wanted to stay by Loki's side. There honestly wasn't much to do in the room either because they'd just moved in. It was devoid of any personal belongings, and Loki frowned as he remembered all of the events that had previously occurred. As much as he hated it on Asgard, he still called it home. It was hard to explain. En sat up and rummaged through his hoodie, feeling around in the pocket. He then smiled a little, grasping at something and pulling it out. Loki propped his head up with his hand, looking over at En with amusement.

"What is that?" Loki inquired, noticing the Grandmaster's sudden joy.

"Alright, so I got you something and I really hope you'll like it. Maybe kind of as an 'I'm sorry' present, but more of an 'I love you' gift." En explained and Loki smiled genuinely.

"That's going to take some getting used to. You know, I have never said 'I love you' to anyone but my family." Loki mentioned and then En uncovered what he'd been holding. It was a ring on a leather cord.

"So this.. is made from a gemstone found only on Asgard. It just became super rare, y'know." En spoke softly, smiling at him. "It's green because you like the color green." Loki smiled and his eyes widened.

"How did you find this?" Loki asked softly, looking down in awe at the ring which glittered in the sunlight that peeked through the window.

"A lot of stuff comes through the portal and scrappers, uh, turn in things to me for money. I have quite a few Asgardian relics, actually." En explained and then put the cord over Loki's head, watching it come to rest on Loki's bare chest.

"I love it." Loki spoke genuinely, looking into En's eyes. He was so shocked. "I know this is going to sound sappy, but I really love you too. I love you so much, En." Loki finally admitted it to himself as well as to En. The Grandmaster almost looked shocked, but his shock turned into happiness soon enough as he pulled Loki close, kissing him passionately. En smiled against Loki's lips, gently pulling away after a moment, only to rest his forehead against Loki's.

"You bring meaning to my, uh, incredibly long life, dear trickster." En grinned, closing his eyes for a moment. "We've gotta travel the universe together now. No 'ifs', 'ands', or 'buts'." Loki nodded a little.

"Of course." Loki was completely awestruck that En had become so enchanted by him. It all felt like a dreamlike haze, and Loki didn't want to wake up from it. If he had to spend an eternity with En, well, that wouldn't be so bad. The trickster smiled and pressed a slow kiss to En's smiling lips, and at that moment, Thor opened the door, his eyes widening as he noticed what was going on. En heard the door open and opened his eyes, his eyesight drifting over to Thor. The Grandmaster grinned a little against Loki's lips as he saw Thor's line of sight change from their faces to their bare chests. Thor then covered his eyes, not sure what to say or do.

"We've got a voyeur." En purred against Loki's lips and Loki pulled away, seeing his blond brother at the door. He blushed hard, watching Thor in pure horror.

"What the hell, Thor! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Loki was shocked, pulling the sheets up self consciously to his neck as he watched Thor stand there at the door.

"I apologize, brother, I had no idea.. I.. I just came to see you." Thor replied, then hurried out the door, slamming it behind him. Loki looked back to En, biting his lip nervously, the blush tinting his cheeks. En chuckled and nuzzled his neck.

"We could have, um, asked if he wanted to join." En grinned charmingly, then looked at Loki to see his reaction.

"En! He's my brother!" Loki exclaimed and En chuckled even more.

"I know, only a joke, my dear. He may be the uh, seductive lord of thunder, but he's not nearly as seductive as you, my little minx." En purred into his ear and caressed his cheek. Loki leaned into his touch slightly and smiled.

"Well, I would hope not." Loki spoke playfully and En laughed softly, shaking his head.

"I think we should probably get dressed.. maybe start some conversations with the Avengers? Maybe it would convince them that we're not as vile as they think we are." Loki suggested, giving a little shrug. That's when he noticed the clothes waiting for them on the desk to the side. En nodded and sat up, then stood, walking over to look at the clothes.

"These aren't half bad, you know. A nice blue and red sweater... someone has taken note of my color compatibility." En mused as he held it up to his tall frame. "Some nice light caramel pants as well." Loki smirked as he watched En get excited about his clothes. Loki also saw that he had an emerald green short-sleeved v-neck picked out for him and some black skinny jeans to compliment it. He was quite impressed.

"Look, they even brought character themed boxers!" En chuckled, holding out the Hulk themed boxers out for Loki to see. "How great is that?" Loki was no longer impressed. He walked over and looked in the pile, seeing if there was any other type of underwear there. Then again, he guessed that all they might have on hand for cases like these might be their merchandise. Loki glanced to the bathroom, then back to En.

"A shower first might be a good idea." Loki suggested, not wanting to go and meet everyone in the state he was in. It wasn't like everyone had no clue what was going on, especially Thor, now that he'd seen them in bed together. Loki honestly was very shy about outwardly telling others about the relationship, contrary to what one might assume. It wasn't that he was embarrassed by En, more like it was the fact that he knew what the people at Avengers Tower would think. They would think that he was using En, and that was the last thing Loki wanted them to think. En caressed Loki's messy hair and looked at their appearances in the mirror.

"I think you're uh, spot on with your observation." En responded, then headed with Loki to shower. Loki felt like he was being clingy, but En didn't seem to mind at all. The trickster followed him in and had to assist him with figuring out how Stark's very tech-savvy shower worked. It was not your average faucet knob, but a waterproof touch screen. Who knew there could be so many features. En looked at his companion, bringing his hand up to rest under his chin as he thought.

"You could use a massage. You look incredibly tense." En observed and Loki couldn't help but grin, giving a cute little laugh in response.

"You're just saying that so you can get handsy." Loki accused him playfully and En shrugged.

"Guilty as charged." En admitted and gave him a wink. The Grandmaster then looked down at his fingertips. "Damn it." He then interjected. "My nail polish is peeling." Loki turned to look, then sighed.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to have a nail polishing session between the two of us, won't we?" Loki's remark was a teasing one, but well-meant. Loki then looked into his eyes, his smile fading a little. "You know, I never asked you how you were holding up. Its a lot to leave your planet, and you said you've encountered Thanos before as well.." Loki pointed out. The Grandmaster put on a brave face.

"I try not to get emotional over leaving planets. The universe is ever-changing, planets are always colliding with things. Evil overlords always.. pillaging, what-have-you." En admitted, shrugging a little. "As for the big purple dummy, he has always been power hungry. He'll hurt whomever he has to to get what he wants. Me personally, I had possession of the time gem and he really wanted it. For him to have unlimited power.." En explained and Loki cut him off, or rather, added to his statement.

"He has to have all of them." Loki murmured, then drenched his hair in the shower stream to prepare for washing it.

"How many do you think he has now?" En inquired curiously, vaguely concerned since he had no idea where the power stone was. He assumed Thanos still had the time gem. Loki chewed his bottom lip a little before speaking again.

"I have the tesseract. The Space gem. Do not make that known to anyone else though." Loki finally admitted and En's eyes widened.

"What the hell? That's like a tracking beacon for Thanos to find you!" En whisper shouted and Loki shrugged, cringing a little.

"Look, I know that it was not wise to grab it, but if I had not grabbed it, Thanos would be in possession of it right now. If he gets all of them, he will destroy the universe, En. I will not stand by and let that happen." Loki explained and En looked worried.

"He will destroy every planet until he finds the gem, Loki. You need to give it to the Avengers. I don't really trust them either, but, uh, Thanos is a worse option. I want no part in this." En made his opinion known and Loki tried to give him an option.

"What if we give the gem to Thanos? I can bargain for him to save Earth and all of us here." Loki asked, knowing it was a terrible option, but what option did they have, really?

"You are out of your mind, Loki! Your solution is to give him the stone?" En was in shock, mainly because he knew Thanos would break Loki like a branch from a tree. Loki nodded.

"If we give it to him, he'll make a deal with us." Loki explained and En shook his head.

"No. You're not doing that. I won't watch you die. I may be banned from dying, but that rule doesn't apply to you, and I can't lose you." En spoke with urgency, trying not to panic. Loki brought his soft hand up to caress En's cheek.

"Darling, you won't lose me. I'm trying to make sure everyone doesn't go down with me." Loki gave him a somewhat sad expression. "Don't get me wrong, I really love doing vile things, but I can't watch the only family I have left die because of me." En still looked at him with the same concern that one looks at a poor animal left out in the cold.

"I'm coming with you. You can't uh.. convince me otherwise. Don't even think about it." En looked him in the eyes, making sure Loki knew exactly what he meant. His hazel eyes were bright with concern for his companion. Though he could never find words quickly enough, he meant every one that he said right then. Loki looked up at En with a frown on his lips.

"And do you think I want to see you suffer either?" Loki asked him, his hand going to rest on En's bare shoulder. En looked at him with an unchanging expression.

"So you know how I feel then. If you died out there, I'd be responsible. Maybe not directly, but when news got back to me, I will have known that I did not follow you. That alone would make me feel like I caused you to die." En explained. "I can't die. So I'm coming. That's that." En would hear no more utterances of protest escape Loki's lips. He wanted to save his little trickster, and he had grown much too fond of him to lose him to the big purple asshole. The Grandmaster smiled and leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips. "And don't you dare get angry with me for caring." En added against Loki's lips, his hand cupping Loki's flawless cheek. Loki maintained his slight glare, mainly because he liked going things alone. He knew exactly how predictable his moves would be, but to add someone into the mix would upset the entirety of his perfect loner battle plan.

"No promises." Loki murmured, though he wasn't truly mad with En. He found his love very endearing, and he couldn't believe the thoughts that crossed his mind about En. When Loki was left lying awake at night, as he always inevitably was, he found his mind drifting to thoughts of a future with his fellow sorcerer. He knew how foolish it was to think about the possibility of a future with someone he'd only just met, but he had a feeling that En might just be the one for him. Sure, he was a lot older, but time was merely a varied measurement. On Midgard, fifty was considered old. On Asgard, one thousand was the prime and youth of your life. As long as the love was true, he saw no problem with the other male being possibly billions of years old.

Just as Loki laid awake thinking about En, En would do the same about Loki. When he woke up early or found himself with a bout of sleeplessness, he'd end up wondering if the trickster were true. What if Loki was using him? Of course, En would never voice his concern to Loki about his loyalty, and the more time he spent with Loki, the more he believed that his god was truly in love with him. Everyone had always seen him as a suave overlord, but no one was in it for love. Sure, space orgies were great when you were bored, but billions of years is a long time to spend alone. He'd had a few flings, but they were mainly in his prime, and never really led to anything. That's why En had such a great feeling about Loki. It was something that he'd never quite experienced, and he found himself thanking Hela internally for throwing Loki out of the Bifrost that day. He had no idea what the future held for them, but he also found himself not dreading day-to-day activities. Loki was almost as much of a diva as he was, just inwardly instead of outwardly, and it brought a sense of order to his life.

As soon as the pair had finished showering, they dressed in their provided clothes, venturing out to meet the masses of Avenger's Tower. It was getting quite full in there, to be honest. When he'd seen the Avengers last, they had only consisted of Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Clint, and of course, his brother. Now there were more than he knew about, like the twin Maximoffs, but he'd met Vision. Of course, Pietro had met a terrible end, but he only knew about him from the commemorative plaque on the wall that had a picture of Pietro and Wanda. Once he and En had walked out to the main area, En-sans-blue paint, all eyes were on them. Thor still looked embarrassed, not looking toward them. Tony couldn't wait to give them a hard time about it. He had seen Thor hurry out of the room with a heavy blush and a scowl on his face and instantly knew what it was about.

"Hey Loki... or should I call you, Lucky?" Tony jeered him a little, grinning. "Now that you've got someone to get all of that pent up frustration out of you, will you stop trying to take over the world?"

"No promises, Stark." It was serious, mainly because he was pissed that Tony would make jokes like that about him. Instead of throwing Tony out the window again like he wanted to, he was choosing to behave himself for now. He kept reminding himself that they had nowhere else to go because they had no Midgardian money. En was there to save him though.

"I've known thousands of Tonys, you know. None are as mouthy as you, or as desperate for approval." En commented and glanced to Loki for approval. Loki gave him a small grin. Tony crossed his arms, wanting to defend himself, but after his small argument with Steve, he didn't feel like it. Steve was still incredibly uneasy about letting Loki and his space boyfriend stay at the tower, but he had a good heart and if Loki were to prove he wasn't up to anything, Steve might change his mind. Bruce was seated on the couch still, talking with Wanda. Loki wished for once that everyone would stop looking at him. He walked over to Bruce, his arms crossed.

"Pardon me, but back on Sakaar, we didn't have long to talk." Loki spoke with a charming smile. En stayed by his side, but somewhat off to the side so he wasn't hovering. Bruce glanced up at him, not really afraid of him anymore. Even though he had no control, having beaten the absolute shit out of Loki helped his self esteem a lot.

"We really didn't. I didn't think you wanted to be chatty with me after the last incident." Bruce spoke rather boldly, Wanda looking up at Loki with an unimpressed expression from the side.

"I think that's the problem here." Loki spoke as if addressing everyone. "You all defeated me merely because you caught me off guard with the Hulk. You're not afraid of me. You're cocky, arrogant fools."

"Should we be afraid?" Steve asked curiously, his bad guy radar going off. Loki backed down a little from his speech, but he still wasn't happy.

"I could take you all any damn day, but I currently have no wish or need to, so here I am." Loki explained and motioned to the space around him. "Not to be rude, but I'm truly starving. Is there any food around?" It was almost funny at the rate in which he switched from his dark persona to a hungry visitor.

"The kitchen is right over there. Help yourself." Tony spoke, though he wasn't very welcoming in his tone. Loki nodded.

"Thank you." He mumbled and walked with En to the kitchen. As for earth food, he'd always found it rather odd. He did manage to find some ramen noodles in the pantry of the kitchen. Most things were labeled with one person or another's name, so he picked the noodles that were unclaimed, fixing some for both himself and En. Instead of doing it the tradition way on the stovetop, Loki just used his own magic, sparking a hot flame from his fingertips under the pot of water and noodles. En watched with a grin as the rest of the Avengers tried not to watch out of amusement. When the noodles were done, Loki put the noodles into bowels and poured in the packet, stirring it up. It wasn't his first time having to live off Ramen noodles. During his Midgardian takeover, they were cheap and easy to make, so that's what he went with. Walking back over to the main area, they both took a table to themselves, trying to have their own little space.

"We should get takeout next time. I totally forgot about that. I might have some gold on me." Loki mused and Thor scoffed.

"Loki, one must use Washingtons and Lincolns for that." Thor thought he was the ever-helpful brother and Loki almost spewed his noodles.

"You mean... money? Cash? I intend to exchange the gold for that. Asgardian gold is worth a lot more here." Loki explained and Thor looked almost ashamed. He was trying his best to learn how the world worked, and he couldn't believe Loki already had it figured out with the short amount of time he'd spent trying to take it over. It was more like Loki would always sneak down to Midgard when he was younger. The prince had always had a fascination with humans, though he still saw himself above them. En smirked slightly, not really sure what was going on either, but he enjoyed hearing Loki sarcastically zing others.

"It sounds like you have this whole thing planned out then. I thought you'd be more upset about your children." Thor spoke casually. It was meant to be an observation, but it caused something in Loki to snap. Before En could stop him, Loki sped across the room towards Thor.

"I'd plan your next words carefully if I were you." Loki snapped at him and the other Avengers grew tense, sensing an impeding fight.

"I know it's been hard on you, Loki, but you can't internalize everything. Losing your kids is a horrible thing." Thor mused as he looked up at his fuming brother standing over him. Loki grabbed Thor by his collar and pushed him back against the wall, looking into his eyes.

"I'm dealing just fine, thank you." Loki growled and Thor held up a finger.

"Wait before you choke me to death, alright? I have news." Thor admitted as Loki kept his grip on him tight and his gaze cold.

"Sleipnir lives. He's a shifter like you." Thor managed to get out and Loki loosened his grip on Thor, his life flashing before his eyes. He'd come to terms with losing his kids before, but now that Sleipnir was alive, what was there to do about it? He'd been an absent father.. well, mother technically for all of Sleipnir's life. "I can fetch him if you'd like. I brought him to the tower, but he doesn't know you're here." Thor spoke honestly and looked at Loki as Loki's world fell apart. It could not have come at a worse time. He knew he should be glad, but he was emotionally overwhelmed. Thor then slowly pulled away from him.

"I only did it because I thought he could be your new start." Thor explained and Loki took a deep breath, glancing back to En. What would he think? En looked confused, but he already knew Loki had kids. Loki bit his lip nervously.

"Bring him in. I wish to see him privately, however. En can come as well." Loki added and En walked over to him slowly, not sure if Loki was mentally stable enough to walk up to yet. Thor led them down the hall to one of the rooms that was set up for the kids of the Avengers. After all this time, Loki's child would still only be a child with all the time that had passed. Loki fidgeted with his fingers and looked to En, then back to Thor as his thunder god brother opened the door to the toddler who was still in Asgardian clothes. Sleipnir glanced up, his black curly hair draped around his face as his bright emerald eyes followed the figures entering the room.

"Mommy?" Sleipnir looked up at Loki and Loki frowned a little. It was an embarrassing memory, really, and mainly the reason for him giving the deformed child up. It wasn't because of the deformity, but because of the shame he would have brought their family by bringing Sleipnir into the world. It seemed that Sleipnir was shape shifting to conform to what he thought was a form to blend in with. Loki took a deep breath and put on a soft smile as best he could, walking over to his child and crouching down. Sleipnir initiated the hug and didn't want to let go. Loki tensed at first, then slowly wrapped his arms around the small boy.

"I was scared.." Sleipnir spoke, not very clearly, but filled with emotion. "You fight the bad woman?"

"Yeah, um.. I fought the bad woman." Loki murmured back to him, feeling a pang of guilt hit him as he remembered Hela's demise. "I've missed you, little man." He added, trying to change the subject. Loki was far from parent of the year, but he could at least be decent to his one remaining child. En was standing at the doorway with Thor, not really sure what to do. Should he move in to comfort the both of them or give them their space? Loki hugged him tightly and then let go.

"Can I stay with you?" Sleipnir asked quietly, hoping the answer would be yes, not sure if Loki would say yes or no. Loki glanced over to En, then back to Sleipnir.

"Could I have a moment to talk with uncle Thor?" Loki asked softly as he looked at his child, who was a spitting image of him. Sleipnir nodded and Loki stood up, walking out into the hall with Thor and En, rubbing his forehead as a sign of stress. "What am I supposed to do?" He asked, maybe rhetorically.

"Look.. uh, I don't have much experience dealing with kids, but he seems really nice." En spoke awkwardly. Loki frowned even more.

"I haven't been in his life all this time.. I don't know if I can just walk back in." Loki spoke honestly, scratching the back of his neck. He then leaned in closer to En to ask him a personal question. "Would you stay with me if I wanted to keep him and parent him?" It was something intimate that he couldn't let Thor hear. His ring necklace hung against his chest and he could feel it as his heart pounded through his chest. It felt like a stupid question.

"Of course. You know I would. I mean, this is a hell of a surprise, but we can manage, right?" En assured him quietly and Loki felt himself relax slightly.

"Today I thought I had lost all of my children. I hid my emotions well, but.. it hurt like nothing I have ever felt in my life. I found myself wishing that I had been a better parent." Loki admitted to him, somewhat out of character for him. En wrapped his arms around Loki and hugged him.

"We'll figure it out. Now c'mon, introduce me." En nudged him a little. Loki smiled, glad that En was being supportive. It was a weight lifted off his chest. He stepped back into the room with En and smiled, walking over with En to Sleipnir. He crouched down and En did too, though he was still tall even as he did.

"Alright, so Sleipnir, this is my boyfriend, En. He is really excited to meet you and I promise you that you'll love him." Loki smiled a little and Sleipnir acted shy, not sure what to think of the stranger at first.

"Your mom's right, kiddo. I'm excited to finally meet you. Sleipnir is a nice name." En smiled and Sleipnir started to open up to him a little more.

"You can stay with us now. I won't leave you again." Loki spoke, hoping he wouldn't have to break that promise. Sleipnir's eyes lit up with joy and he quickly hugged Loki, his little arms wrapping around the trickster's neck. En told Loki he could handle it, but he honestly wasn't sure if he could or not. He had never had to deal with children before, so he was scared. What if he messed it up? What he didn't know was that Loki was feeling the same way. The trickster was only privy to running away from whatever kids he had, and now that Sleipnir was here without a place to stay or anything, he felt like he had a duty to make sure that he was okay. Loki gently picked Sleipnir up and smiled softly, somewhat awkwardly to En. That was going to be another kink in their plan. To face Thanos, one had to be particularly uncaring about their life. As the days passed, Loki found himself caring more and more about living. His motives had changed and his brother had forgiven him. He had so many people that cared for him now, and he couldn't possibly leave En and Sleipnir. Thor watched proudly, glad that his brother was taking responsibility for his child. Of course, the backup plan was for Thor to take care of Sleipnir. Thor knew about the child, but had never met him until the day previous.

[Flashback]

Thor had been at the front of the crowd on the borrowed spaceship, overseeing the crowd and helping the people of Asgard find their missing loved ones. Thor was exhausted from the battle, not to mention from all of the responsibility that had fallen on his shoulders in one single day. It was all very overwhelming. He had been standing there trying not to look overwhelmed, and then a small child hurried up to him. He did a double take, seeing Loki as a child the first time he'd glanced. The child gently yanked on Thor's cape.

"Thor?" The child asked softly, needing assistance. He was almost in tears, the poor thing was worried that he wouldn't find his parent. Thor immediately knelt down, ready to help him. It didn't matter if Thor was exhausted, he would be glad to help another citizen of Asgard.

"What's your name, little one?" Thor asked softly, trying to comfort the child.

"Sleipnir." The child murmured quietly, looking up to Thor for guidance.

"What's wrong? Lets see if I can help you." Thor assured him and Sleipnir frowned.

"I lost my mommy." Sleip spoke, a worried tone in his voice. He'd only been in Asgardian form for a small while. He had the ignorant bliss of a child, so he still believed that Loki would come back.

"Who is your mommy? We'll see if we can find her." Thor nodded to him, knowing he could help.

"Loki." It was a short answer, but suddenly it all made sense. It was the secret child of Loki's that Thor had found out about. Loki had made him swear on their ancestors' graves not to tell anyone about him. Loki knew that Odin wouldn't dare let him keep a child, let alone one that was deemed undesirable because of his parentage. Thor immediately thought the worst, that maybe Loki wouldn't want his child, but maybe he was wrong. He planned for the worst and brought Sleipnir with him, convinced that he could make things work out.

[End of Flashback ]

Notes:

This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I've actually got a really good idea of the direction I'm going with this story as a whole. It's going to be a rollercoaster. As always, thank you for reading the fic! You all are the reason I keep writing!

Chapter 5: Healing

Notes:

So this chapter is more of a feel good chapter. I hope you all enjoy the domestic fluff!

So there En and Loki were, having recently taken Loki's firstborn under their metaphorical wing. En watched as the trickster became almost a totally different person around his child. He was kind, caring, and he was making sure that Sleipnir felt loved. The heartbreaking part about it was that Loki knew what it felt like to be abandoned, and he turned around and abandoned his kids too. En wanted to talk to Loki about it, but he wasn't sure what would happen if he mentioned it, so he kept his mouth shut. They'd retreated back to the bedroom, letting Loki have some time with his child.

"How, um, long ago did you have this kid?" En asked, curious, but also worried because the child was young. Part of him was jealous, hoping that Loki wasn't with someone else that he didn't know about.

"About one hundred years ago. Just a small amount of time for Asgardians, but it was quite a long time. I was much younger. More reckless." Loki admitted. That seemed to quell the Grandmaster's fears for the moment. Sleipnir was playing with a toy car on the floor that Loki assumed Thor provided. "I know this is a lot. I wouldn't blame you if you..." Loki trailed off, not wanting En to leave him, but knowing it would be selfish of him to ask En to stay now. En frowned a little, shaking his head.

"I don't want to leave you. I wouldn't ever want that." He murmured and looked at his boyfriend with a loving expression on his face. "Kid or no kid, you're still my trickster." En assured him and stole a kiss.

"I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, and I still do now. I don't want to make one now by leaving him out in the cold, figuratively speaking. He's like the equivalent of a four year old on Midgard. Hela and Fenrir.." He choked up a little when he mentioned them. "Time worked differently for them in Hel." Loki explained and En raised an eyebrow, looking at the child in front of them.

"He looks a lot like you, you know." En mused and Loki smiled softly.

"He does, doesn't he? Perks of being devastatingly handsome, I'm afraid." Loki teased playfully and En grinned, showing that cute little wry smirk that Loki loved. He actually worked actively to get En to grin more. Even though he was playfully joking around, he was simultaneously upset. Thor had brought up the one thing he wished his brother never said. 'I thought you'd be more upset about your children' echoed in his head, making him feel extremely guilty. Everything had happened so fast. He'd hoped to save Hela and Fenrir when he got to Asgard, but it was too late. Hela would listen to no one, and Fenrir was under her spell. He disliked being so angsty around En as well. It made him seem unstable, and he wanted everyone to believe that he had everything very much under control. Loki wanted to lash out, he wanted to break things and wreak havoc because of the loss of his children, but he had to keep it all inside. He glanced to En and then back to Sleipnir. Though he knew he probably should tell En the entire story, he didn't want the other to think of him as a horrible parent. Most of the time, Loki didn't give a shit what people thought whatsoever, but when it came to En, he did.

"Look, Thor was out of line when he said those things back there in front of everyone." En pointed out, looking at his trickster with a sympathetic expression. He was trying to get through all of the walls Loki had put up.

"No, he actually was not out of line at all," Loki spoke, rather detached, deciding to man up and tell En the truth. "I left them. Every single one of my kids. Once Sleipnir was born, I was afraid of what people would think of me. I was so selfish to be that way.. and my child had to suffer because of it. I can't help thinking that if I had stayed, I wouldn't have had to kill my daughter." At that part, Loki wanted to cry, but he kept it inside, trying to keep himself as far removed from the situation as possible. "They had to end up just like their father. I'm sorry, but I can't help feeling like I'll fuck this up too." En listened to him, not really familiar with that type of situation, but hearing Loki finally reveal a deep part of his soul made him feel vulnerable too.

"You had a good reason to. I know its not good, but um, ultimately your crazy adoptive father would have used them to his advantage anyway. I know what Odin is like. I've watched for centuries as he's committed mass genocide of races that he had no place interfering. Compared to your father, you're a better man than he ever was." En explained, wanting him to stop doubting himself. The sooner Loki stopped doubting and questioning his validity would be the sooner they could move forward without dwelling on the past. "You've got Sleipnir now. Don't dwell on what could have been, make use of the time you have now. I know I have no place to be telling you that life is short, so I won't. I just know that if you hold yourself back, it doesn't do any good." Loki couldn't believe he was talking life lessons with the Grandmaster. Loki glanced back over to Sleipnir then and nodded.

"Thank you. That really means a lot to me. I don't say that to a lot of people, so you're one of the lucky few." Loki smiled softly and En wrapped his arms around Loki from behind, pulling him onto his lap.

"Don't you see this? Its a chance for us to have a life. A chance for us both to start over." En explained, nuzzling Loki's neck and placing kisses to his skin.

"But Thanos.." Loki protested softly and En shook his head.

"I'm liking our odds. We've got the Avengers, who will probably try to stop him, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and if all else fails, us." En was speaking quite optimistically, but that was just the way he was. "You just got done fighting for Asgard, let the Avengers figure this one out." Loki thought about it, now taking into consideration all that he had to lose. He nodded, then leaned back into En's embrace, his fingertips brushing over En's tan fingers that rested in front of him.

"That's a good idea. Maybe tomorrow we could take the day to ourselves and enjoy New York. I'm so exhausted right now." Loki spoke, even his voice a little hoarse from the battle. En noticed that Sleipnir was falling asleep while absentmindedly pushing his toy car, so he gently pulled away from Loki.

"You can go ahead and lay down. I can take him back to his bedroom." En volunteered and Loki smiled softly.

"That sounds nice. Thank you, love." Loki spoke, his words almost slurring now because of how tired he was. He laid back on the bed, pulling the covers almost up to his chin. Meanwhile, En had walked over to Sleipnir, looking like a giant in comparison because of his height. He knelt down and looked at the little boy who was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Hey buddy.. You ready to go to bed?" En asked softly. He was awkward around children, but luckily Sleipnir didn't protest in any way. He simply reached his arms out toward En and En picked him up, walking him back to his temporary room. It was a cute kids room, outfitted in lots of superhero things of course. When they got to the room, he gently laid Sleipnir down, pulling the covers up over him. "Um.. goodnight little one." He hoped he was doing it right. He turned to leave, but then heard a small peep of a voice behind him.

"Can you read me a bedtime story?" Sleipnir inquired, looking towards En. The Grandmaster raised an eyebrow and then glanced around to see if there were any books. Nope, it seemed that the one thing that the Avengers hadn't thought of was books for the children. He'd just have to improvise, of course. En walked back over, sitting on the floor, crossing his legs as Sleipnir watched him. The child's previously sleepy eyes were now bright and wide open, ready to hear a story. En smiled a little and tried to think of a good one.

"Hmmmm.. well, there once was a umm.. ooh! There once was a valiant sorcerer who lived in Asgard. He grew up in the palace of Asgard with his brother. Across the galaxy, there was another man, a sorcerer too. He watched over the universe and kept peace, but something was always missing," En spoke and immediately Sleipnir was hooked. "In the life of the sorcerer in Asgard, he fought monsters and traversed the nine realms, all the while not knowing that there were so many more worlds to discover. One man had the universe and wanted one man, and the other had nine realms and wanted the universe. When the both of them met, it was like they were complete. Everything made sense." Sleipnir had already fallen asleep, and he was far from done with the story.

"That was a beautiful story. You wouldn't happen to know who the two men are, would you?" Loki whispered from the doorway, a small smile on his lips. En turned his head and smiled back, seeing Loki there. He slowly came to a standing position as not to wake Sleipnir up, striding over to Loki. Loki grinned and leaned up a little to press a kiss to his boyfriend's lips. En smiled against his lips and gently pushed him out into the hallway, closing the door.

"Of course not. Totally fabricated." En spoke teasingly and gazed into Loki's eyes as if the man in front of him was an angel. Loki rolled his eyes playfully and started to walk back to the room with En. He saw Thor walking in their direction and wanted to avoid him, but it was inevitable to try and escape. The hallway may have been curved, but there were no means of escaping quickly. Thor walked up to them.

"Loki, I want to apologize for the thing I said earlier. It was insensitive of me." Thor spoke sincerely, and Loki stood there in front of him, shocked. "It is just that I was upset at the moment. I do hope that you will forgive me."

"Apology accepted. I am turning over a new leaf, brother. I can't promise to be completely good, but I am a much happier man than I used to be." Loki even shocked himself with how he was behaving around Thor.

"Thank you. Goodnight." Thor nodded to the two of them, then headed to his room down the hall. Loki and En kept walking, however, taking the elevator up to the roof. It was a nice night to stargaze, that is, if they could see any stars through the smog of the city. Once they got to the top, Loki felt the chilly air hit his face. His fingertips turned light blue and immediately En offered him the hoodie. Loki graciously took the hoodie and pulled it over his head, taking a seat on the makeshift lawn chairs that sat on the rooftop. En sat beside him, looking over the city.

"This place is much nicer than Sakaar. All of the trash was a bit..uh, overwhelming at times, if you know what I mean." En admitted, watching cars pass below. He leaned back into the chair, getting comfortable. Even though he was cold, he would rather Loki be warm than himself. Loki's ears were turning blue now too, as well as his nose. The trickster blushed a bit, knowing he must look absolutely ridiculous. En smiled and caressed his cheek. "That is quite a knockout shade of blue you've got there." En grinned charmingly and Loki gave him a playful glare.

"I bet you tell all the frost giants that." Loki teased, amused with En's ability to give endless compliments no matter the situation.

"None of the other frost giants look as handsome as you, though." En pointed out, then took Loki's hand in his own, rubbing it quickly like one would do close to a fire to make it warm. "We didn't come out here to freeze, you know."

"No, we came out here for some privacy." Loki corrected him and moved his chair closer to En. "Everyone expects me to do something psychotic, but really, I just wanted the throne. Now that there isn't a throne, there isn't a point. I don't want Midgard. It's awfully bland." Loki explained and En shrugged.

"Everyone you know seems to have trust issues. I'd be happy with finding a nice habitable planet for you, me, and the kiddo. The unfortunate thing is that we've got to deal with Thanos. Lets make a promise. Once Thanos is taken care of, we skip out of here." En suggested and Loki nodded.

"That sounds nice." The trickster mused. "Promise." Loki then reached out his pinky. En was confused for the moment, and Loki realized what was wrong, gently taking En's hand. "It's a pinky swear. You take your pinky and link it with mine."

"Oh. That's nice." En smiled a little more and linked his pinky in Loki's. "The sooner we defeat Thanos, the sooner we get to do whatever we want. Escape." En grinned like a rebellious teen that wanted to run away from home. The trickster noticed and smiled too, then got up, shifting to En's lap. He faced En, his legs on the outer side of En's thighs as he took a seat. Loki wrapped his arms around his companion, curling up close to him. En chuckled, then slid his cold hands up into the back of Loki's shirt. Loki let out a noise of protest as he felt the cold hands, but he just let it go.

"What? My hands are cold, and you stole my hoodie." En joked playfully, nuzzling his trickster's hair. Loki was smiling finally, a genuine smile of someone who was truly happy. It was a nice change. All they had to do was defeat the Mad Titan and leave for their dream planet. Easy, right?

When they finally returned to their room, they were both basically icicles. Loki was completely blue now, his frost giant side emerging to protect him from the cold. That's how they ended up cuddled up in bed under the covers. Loki chuckled softly as he realized they were both shivering and how close they were.

"Maybe not the best idea to go up to the roof and hang out in the middle of winter." Loki mused, his voice shaking a little due to the cold. En pulled him close, gently laying Loki's head on his chest. Loki could hear his heart beating, and it was soothing to him. "I thought you'd have like two hearts or something." Loki spoke softly, just a curious thought that he'd had. En grinned to himself, caressing Loki's hair.

"That would be quite interesting, wouldn't it? I'm very much the same as you in internal composition, at least I'm assuming." En really didn't know, but it had never mattered much to him. He'd never been sick or anything, so something must have been different.

"I've got a question." Loki added and glanced up at the Grandmaster, waiting for his approval to ask it. En nodded.

"Fire away." En replied softly, thinking it was something serious. His heart started beating faster.

"Oh, relax. It's nothing too high stakes," Loki spoke softly before continuing. "Did you ever think about putting me in the arena when you first met me?" En was kind of intrigued to hear that.

"Honestly? I thought about it for like half a millisecond, but then I saw how gorgeous you were. I didn't want you to die." En explained and Loki furrowed his brow slightly.

"So you're saying I would die in the arena?" Loki accused him and En's eyes widened.

"Hey now, you didn't tell me this was a loaded question. I just pegged you as someone who I wanted to make love with instead of letting you fight the Hulk. I've seen him crush thousands of contenders. What makes you different?" En asked, then wished he would have phrased it better. Loki almost laughed, looking up at him.

"Seriously? I mean, I may not be the god of thunder, but I'm the god of mischief. I'm good at illusions, and I'm damn good at stabbing people. I was trained just like Thor. Everyone seems to forget that. He's the sunshine son, always stealing my glory." Loki explained, then shrugged. "Regardless, I would have rather went with you anyway. Arena fighting isn't really my thing." En smiled and brushed a strand of Loki's hair behind his ear.

"The way you're looking at me right now makes we want to do really bad things to you." En smirked and Loki blushed. "I kind of want you to show me some of those fighting moves."

"Oh really? Dagger to the jugular is one of your many kinks?" Loki was teasing. He couldn't help himself.

"It wasn't until today." En made the witty comment, causing Loki to lose his tough guy façade.

"Speaking of kinks, I think I've got you figured out, daddy." Loki was merely teasing, but he knew that En had a giant ego and a huge god complex, so he had deduced that En would enjoy it. En was shocked at first, but he grinned.

"Ooooh.. I like that." En purred, finding himself inevitably aroused.

Once they'd finally warmed up enough under the covers, they both fell asleep, too exhausted to make good on their threats of an escapade under the sheets.

The next morning, Loki actually woke before En. He watched En as he slept for a brief moment, admiring how peaceful he looked, before getting up to get ready for the day. He'd mentioned something about spending the day in New York with En and Sleipnir, and it already looked like a perfect day to do something like that. The sun was shining through the windows and Loki stretched like a cat, wanting to bask in the sunlight for a moment or two. He was already dressed, having looked at the brochures so nicely provided by Pepper over things to do in New York. He just hoped they could make it through the day without the police being called on Loki for seeming suspicious. En woke up after a while, stretching out too, not wanting to get up at first. His hair was in a mess and he looked exhausted. Yesterday had been a long day for everyone. When he noticed Loki stretching, he gave a soft whistle, causing Loki to grin and turn to face him.

"I feel like I should have seen that was coming." Loki admitted to En, walking over to the side of the bed En was on. He ran his fingertips through En's fluffy white hair, smiling to him. "So I've thought about some fun things we could do in New York today. I was thinking that we could go ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza and also see the Christmas tree while we're there, then maybe take a walk through Central Park, and lastly go to the Museum of modern art. I think it's a pretty good plan. I think Sleipnir will really enjoy ice skating and seeing the tree." En smiled up at him from his seated position.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" En was very enthusiastic about it all, and Loki was glad. When he saw that the art museum wasn't too far away from where they'd be, he knew that En would love it. "First I'm going to get dressed. You can go get Sleipnir if you'd like, or stay for the show." En spoke playfully and did somewhat of a guttural purr, almost beckoning Loki to stay. "I'll even make it fun." Loki rolled his eyes playfully and took a seat on the bed.

"Let's see what you've got, then." Loki motioned for him to get undressed. The Grandmaster stood up confidently, walking over in front of Loki. He turned to face him and winked at Loki playfully as he stripped off his sweater from the night before, taking it slow. Once he'd pulled it off, he playfully flung it at Loki like a rubber band, the sweater landing in Loki's lap. Loki looked up at him with a coy grin on his lips, quite enjoying his presentation. En then made a show of taking his khakis off, unbuttoning them teasingly before wiggling out of them. The trickster couldn't help but admire his toned legs. Once he was just standing there in his boxers, he walked casually over to Loki, swaying his hips slightly. As he positioned himself in front of Loki, he took a seat on the trickster's lap, messing up Loki's hair as he gave him an impromptu lap dance. Loki's eyes widened and he chuckled a little, looking into his lover's eyes.

"Damn." Loki murmured, enjoying the show he was putting on.

"Get ready for the big finale, baby." En purred into his ear, then playfully nipped at it. The Grandmaster then slipped back off of his lap, slipping his thumbs under the elastic of his boxers, slipping them down as slowly as possible. Once they were off, he turned around and playfully bent down, wiggling his naked ass in front of Loki. Loki felt like giggling like a school girl, but he contained himself, managing only to release a small laugh and an expression of approval. He clapped quietly for him, and En leaned back up, turning around to face him. He gave one last wink and sashayed off to the bathroom. Loki took that as his cue to leave, but he was left with quite an embarrassing situation. He knew the Grandmaster did that on purpose, so he rolled his eyes quite sassily and headed out of the room. He was now on a mission to find his son and make sure he was up and ready to explore New York, the trickster with a brochure in hand to hold in front of his pants. Once he arrived at Sleipnir's room, he gently knocked on the door, almost nervous to talk to him. Maybe things would get easier over time. Sleipnir walked over to the door, then pressed his ear to it.

"Who is it?" The small voice called out inquisitively.

"It's me, Sleip. Loki." The trickster still hadn't really come to terms with being called 'mommy'. He knew that, yes, he was Sleipnir's mother, but that was beside the point. The child opened the door slowly, looking up at Loki with a bright smile.

"Mommy!" Sleip called out, reaching his arms up so that Loki would pick him up. Loki did just that, lifting the small child up into his arms, holding him as he walked back into the room.

"Mhm, its me, baby. We've got to get you ready for the day, alright? I thought it might be fun to take an adventure around the city." Loki explained and sat him down, finding some extra clothes in a drawer beside the bed. "First we've got to get you dressed."

"Is En coming?" Sleipnir asked curiously, trying to undo his pajamas himself. Loki helped him after a moment of letting him have independence, finding it quicker to help him. The trickster hoped that his question was a hopeful one instead of dread.

"Of course, love. He'd love to get to know you better. As would I." Loki did his best to let Sleipnir know what was going on and cushion it just in case.

"Yay!" A small exclamation from Sleipnir was all it took to put a smile on Loki's face. Once Sleipnir was dressed for the day, Loki held out a hand for him.

"Let's get back to the room so we can get En and go." Loki urged him to come along, and the small child grabbed his hand eagerly, almost running alongside him.

"Where are we going?" Sleip asked softly, looking up at Loki.

"It's a surprise. I think you'll enjoy it." The god smiled warmly, finding it becoming easier to be a parent with each interaction he had with Sleipnir. Once they got back to the room, Loki knocked on the door to make sure En was decent. The Grandmaster opened the door, revealing his outfit of choice, which was a navy blue button up shirt with a leather jacket. He also had some black jeans on with some winter boots and he looked extremely handsome in Loki's eyes, but that was an everyday occurrence for him. En smiled when he saw the little boy. Sleipnir was wearing a green dinosaur shirt with a puffy jacket and some small jeans. Sleip smiled happily up at him, excited to be going on an adventure with his parental figures.

"Ready?" Loki asked with a smile and En nodded.

"Ready." En spoke in confirmation, stepping outside the room with Loki and Sleipnir, walking down the hall towards the elevator. "Should we tell anyone that we're leaving?" He added and Loki sighed softly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, we're on probation." Loki rolled his eyes and left Sleip and En there. "I'll be right back.." Sleipnir and En stood patiently as Loki went to go find his brother. Once Loki had located Thor, he hoped that his brother would be lenient on them.

"Hey Thor?" Loki attempted to get Thor's attention as he relaxed on the couch, watching a Christmas movie with Natasha. The god of thunder looked over to Loki with questioning eyes, but tried to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yes brother?" Thor asked, hoping it wasn't something ridiculous. Loki took a breath before he spoke.

"Alright, so I know En and I are on Avenger's probation here, but is it alright if we take Sleip out and have a nice day in New York together?" Loki asked, though he would rather have just asked for forgiveness rather than permission. Thor thought about it for a moment.

"Stark told me that you are my responsibility, so I should probably go with you." Thor replied, wishing things were different. "Not that I doubt you, but it is a necessary precaution." Loki sighed, but he was glad that at least they could still go.

"We're about to leave. Could you possibly come now? Loki inquired and Thor nodded, standing up and walking back with Loki to the other two who were waiting. En saw Thor and immediately rolled his eyes, turning a little as so not to let Thor see it.

"We've got a babysitter now?" En whispered into Loki's ear, a little pissed that Thor had to tag along. Loki nodded a little.

"Yeah, but at least we can still go." Loki reminded him and he took Loki's hand, who in turn took Sleipnir's hand. Thor tagged along in the back, feeling a bit out of place. It was weird to see Loki holding anyone's hand, let alone the Grandmaster's. As they exited the tower, Pepper allowed Loki to exchange some gold for money, which fixed the main problem. After that, they hailed a cab, riding over to the Rockefeller Center for some ice skating. When Sleip saw the giant Christmas tree as they walked up, his eyes widened in wonder. As En saw the toddler's happiness, he himself couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Loki helped to rent some skates, then found himself lacing up Sleipnir's skates.

"The first rule of ice skating is to have fun. The second rule is that its okay to fall down." Loki smiled at him, watching Sleipnir giggle at his instructions. Once he'd laced up Sleipnir's skates, En had his on as well. The Grandmaster even offered to lace up Loki's skates like a gentleman and Loki actually let him. Once everyone was ready, they went onto the ice, hand in hand. Loki was no stranger to ice, having spent some time on Jotunheim in his youth before he knew he was a frost giant. He easily started to glide on the ice, meanwhile En was finding it extremely difficult. Sleipnir giggled as En wobbled unsteadily on the ice.

"Hey now, don't you giggle at me, young man." En playfully scolded him, giving him a little grin to let him know he was kidding. That caused Sleipnir to giggle more. Sleip held onto each of their hands, gliding safely in the middle. The first one to fall was En. He got a little braver and leaned too much, falling backwards, causing them all to tumble. Loki laughed softly and gave him a hand up, smiling as he saw a blush on En's cheeks. Loki changed up the order a little so that Sleipnir was on his side now, En on his other, so that En wouldn't bring them all down if he fell again. They all were moving slow, but Sleipnir took to it very quickly, finding it easy. Even En improved after a while.

Thor was seated on the side of the rink, watching them skate as he drank some hot chocolate. He smiled as he watched them. In his mind, he was hoping that Loki would stay this happy for a while, if not forever. It seemed that love had changed him, and if En made Loki happy, that was all that mattered to Thor. The god had really grown in his many adventures since losing his hammer the first time. The more lessons he learned, the better man and King he had become. The Asgardians were now trying to fit in on Earth, but the process was made easier because Thor was already familiar with the planet.

As En fell once more, he accidentally pulled Loki down with him. Loki felt En go down and he let go of Sleipnir's hand, not wanting his son to fall. Loki fell on top of En and En grinned up at him.

"Totally unplanned, I swear." En replied, a cheshire cat grin on his face. Loki simply smiled and gave him a peck on the lips, then rolled off of him, helping him up as they both stood back up. Sleipnir giggled as he saw the whole event happen, taking hold of his mommy's hand once more when Loki got back up. En could tell how much Loki wanted to show off his skills, so he offered Sleipnir his hand. The child took his hand and En nodded to Loki.

"Show us how it's done." He motioned to Loki and the trickster took off, skating fast, but gracefully. He twirled around, then went for a jump. He landed a spin in the air, then skated back over to them.

"That's exactly how its done." Loki smirked and Sleipnir clapped, which caused En to clap too. Once they had their fill of skating, they took their rented skates back and motioned for Thor to come with them. Next stop was a closer view of the Christmas tree. Sleipnir was complaining softly about his feet hurting, so En came to the rescue, lifting the little one above his shoulders, giving him a tall piggy back ride. They walked up to the Christmas tree, looking up at its giant frame. Sleipnir was silent, holding onto En as he looked up at it.

"It's so pretty.." Sleip smiled brightly, his eyes lighting up as he saw the thousands of lights on it. Loki had been standing with Thor and Thor looked over at his brother, smiling.

"I've never seen this tree before. 'Tis a shame. We haven't a thing like this in Asgard." Thor pointed out. Loki didn't dare correct him and say that Asgard no longer existed and that his statement was true. He was enjoying the moment. After they had done their share of looking at the tree, they all collectively decided that the park would be too chilly to walk in. Next stop was the museum. Loki hoped his four year old would enjoy the museum, but it was mainly for En to see the Midgardian art. His guess had proved correct as he saw the joy En got out of analyzing every little thing in detail with his eyes. On Sakaar, he was the only one who seemed to get joy out of painting, but here the people of Earth seemed to value it in high esteem. That was particularly evident when they came upon Vincent Van Gogh's painting of "Starry Night". En was completely encompassed in the painting.

"Do you think he painted a portal into it?" En asked and Loki smiled, shaking his head.

"I don't know..He could have, I suppose. I think sorcery might have been quite illegal back then, however." Loki explained and En wished he could touch it. He knew better, based on all of the security that seemed to be around. They spent quite a while in the museum and then got lunch before heading back to the tower. Their day had brought them all closer together. Even Thor had enjoyed himself as he watched them grow closer as a family. It was the start of something beautiful.

Notes:

The next chapter will be a flashback of En and Loki before Thor landed on Sakaar. It delves more into their relationship. Also, I have a surprise in store next chapter!

Chapter 6: Reflection

Notes:

If thou requesteth specific things, I doth hear thee! This is a chapter specifically focused on En and Loki's relationship before Thor landed on Sakaar.

[ Flashback ]

Before Thor had come to Sakaar, Loki had plenty of time to get to know the Grandmaster. Even though he had all of that time, the Elder hadn't told him much, really. During the chess game that happened days previous to Thor arriving, Loki had actually asked En about himself. He was tired of En dodging the intimate questions about himself.

"So tell me.. what is it that you most desire, since you were so keen on knowing what I desired last night?" Loki asked, then pursed his lips, looking at the chess board for possible moves.

"What do I desire? I have everything I could possibly want here. Power, pleasure.. a smokin' hot Asgardian prince to keep my bed warm at night.." En shrugged a little and Loki made his move.

"Check." Loki smirked at En, giving him a wink before wondering what his next move would be. It was somewhat of a parallel between what he was wondering about his and En's relationship, if you could call it that. En made one simply move and avoided Loki's possible win. "Damn." Loki murmured, but he loved the competitiveness.

"Now that I've told you, you've got to tell me." En smirked, knowing he'd trapped Loki conversationally.

"Ahhh... well, currently, I desire a win. Overall, I desire the throne of Asgard." It may have been true, but it was only a half-truth. What he really wanted was some stability, but he knew he'd get laughed at for saying that. As the god of mischief, he'd always wanted chaos and misrule. Now, he wanted something else.

"You'd be a great King." En replied with a convincing expression on his face.

"You think so? Well, I had the throne for four years. I was posing as my father, but still, I was ruling. I thought I was doing a good job. Thor says otherwise." He shrugged and made another move, trying to take out En's king.

"Opinions, opinions." En shrugged and moved, taking out Loki's king in one swift move. He stood up, then leaned in behind Loki. "I win." He purred into Loki's ear, slowly walking over to the bar. Loki rose to his feet, joining him at the bar for a drink.

"You're such a tease, you know." Loki murmured and En shrugged.

"So I am. I don't see you trying to do anything to change it either." En commented and poured Loki a glass of Sakaarian whiskey. "Drink up." Loki lifted the glass to his lips and downed it. En looked rather impressed by that, and that caused him to do the same. The god of lies then walked behind the counter where En was, kissing the man with a fiery passion, taking him off-guard. The Grandmaster felt the temperature rising in his cheeks as he kissed the trickster. That was when he took Loki's hand, practically dragging him to the throne room. En took a seat on the throne, pulling Loki in by his collar to kiss him harder, wanting him then and there on the spot. Loki obliged, taking a seat on En's lap as he caressed the man's cheek, exploring his mouth with his silver tongue. The guards would be in for a surprise if they came in, or maybe not, depending on how many people En had done this with. Loki didn't mind, having had a little liquid courage in him. He found himself letting go of any resistance he might have had before, wrapping himself around En like a ribbon. In the back of his mind, he felt like something was wrong, but it wasn't enough of a feeling to keep him away from En. Maybe it was because of how quickly he'd decided to let himself get caught up in a romantic affair. Even when he tried to convince himself that it was just for power, he knew better that he was in it for the pleasure. In Asgard, it would have been taboo of Loki to even be like this with anyone. Most of the time, Asgardian royals didn't even show love toward others openly, save Thor. Nevertheless, Loki wrapped his arms around En's neck, allowing the stranger to have his way with him.

Once they'd finished up their quick escapade, En helped them both to get fully dressed back up, but he didn't make a move to get up. Loki scooted back on En's lap, the Grandmaster's arm going around his waist protectively. He pressed kisses to the back of Loki's neck, nuzzling him a little. That was when a guard opened the door, looking for En. He saw the couple on the throne together, but thought nothing of it. En was a very hedonistic man, so it wasn't uncommon for him to be seen around with his many 'partners'. The guard stepped in and cleared his throat. En held Loki close, his attention now on the guard.

"Grandmaster, we need to have an important meeting as soon as possible. It's about the revolution." The guard announced to En, and the Grandmaster nodded, his expression changing.

"As much as I dislike talking about it, it's becoming a real problem." En explained to Loki as the guard left their presence. "You're welcome to stay on my lap." He grinned to Loki, cuddling with him on the throne. Loki pressed a kiss to his lips and slid off his lap, standing to the side. He could say he was the royal adviser and not lose his dignity by being suspected as being the Grandmaster's whore. Even though it was more of a sexual thing, Loki was falling for En, though he wouldn't dare let anyone else know that. He fixed his clothes up the rest of the way, brushing his fingers through his hair to make himself presentable. There he stood, ready to hear out the people of Sakaar. As soon as the advisors came in, En's demeanor changed. The meeting went well, but there were things that needed to be taken into consideration. The rebellion was close to coming together, and En clearly wasn't ready for it. He had no army because he was supposed to be a peaceful overlord, not to mention that he'd made the strong creatures into fighters against their will. That was clearly taking a strain on him. That could have been an explanation for him being so distant when he wasn't alone with Loki. When they were alone again, En rubbed his forehead with his fingertips in a sign of frustration. Loki took his rightful seat back on En's lap, caressing his lover's cheek, gently turning his face toward's the trickster.

"Hey.. it's going to be fine. We'll put down their silly rebellion." Loki assured him, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his forehead. Though his main sport was lying, he couldn't lie to himself. He did truly care about En, though he'd had thoughts of betraying him. Right at the beginning, he'd thought of all of the ways he could take over Sakaar and make it his own. Now, he wondered what it would be like to rule alongside his lover. Judging by his rule over Asgard, he needed someone else to help him keep his affairs in order. En could be aggressive, but he was easily overwhelmed and Loki could help with that. Loki preferred trickery instead of war.

"Let's get out of here. The guards can put down the rebellion if need be. We can go explore the rest of the planet. It can't be all trash, can it?" Loki asked the question as more of a reassurance to En to ease his mind. The Grandmaster gave him a small exhausted smile and shrugged.

"It's worth looking into. We might have to make a great escape before too long." En replied, rubbing his temples before he went to move. Loki got up and motioned playfully for En to show the way.

"We can take your ship. There wasn't anything westward, so maybe we could try the east." Loki mentioned as they travelled down to the garage to take "The Commodore" out for a spin. En nodded to him and handed him the keys to the ship.

"You can fly today." En spoke to him before climbing aboard and taking a seat in the passenger's side. "All I'm hoping is that there is an ocean somewhere on this planet. I've not been here that long, so I haven't seen it all yet." He shrugged and Loki took charge at the helm, taking hold of the controls.

"I love flying. It's kind of unfair. My brother can fly, but I can't, unless it's in a ship of course." Loki mentioned and pouted playfully. "This flying takes a little more skill, though. So I guess I win."

"You win in my book." En shrugged as he validated his partner's feelings. Loki smiled a little more and flew them out of the hangar with ease.

"I have a way better looking helmet, anyway." Loki spoke playfully and En looked intrigued.

"Helmet? How have I not seen it yet?" En asked curiously and Loki shrugged.

"It's more for battle, but I'll humor you because I brought it up in the first place." Loki smiled to himself and shook his head, changing his appearance with magic so that his helmet was there. He glanced over to En so he could catch a look at it. En was shocked, but more or less impressed.

"Damn. That's.. wow." En mused, then gently reached out to touch it.

"Thor called me a cow. Lovingly, I'm assuming." Loki grinned, feeling a bit silly.

"I can think of at least one better way of using it. Just grab a hold of the horns and-" En mused to him, causing Loki to blush furiously.

"Of course your mind would go to that." Loki interrupted him, a grin spread across his lips. En playfully grabbed a hold of his horns, playfully pulling him closer. "Do you want me to wreck the ship? That's where this is headed." Loki reminded him and En hit the autopilot button.

"Live a little." En smiled coyly. "You're certainly very horny." Loki snorted, knowing he should have been expecting that. It was so corny, yet so funny.

"This is exactly the problem. Got any more pick up lines to try on me?" Loki teased. En was almost breaking out in laughter because he was proud of having come up with it. He loved Loki's laugh, so he was going to make him laugh as much as possible.

"Are you from Muspelheim? Because you're hotter than hell." En waggled his eyebrows, looking to Loki for approval. Loki shook his head, looking at En with an impressed expression.

"The Universe must revolve around you, because your gravitational forces are bangin'." Loki finally unleashed one upon En and the Grandmaster ate it right up. He laughed softly, almost like a giggle. "I'm going to beat you at your own game." Loki boasted and the Grandmaster nodded.

"You can definitely try." En suggested, kicking back and relaxing. "I still want to see that helm on you in the bedroom."

"Of course you do." Loki knew he wouldn't forget it. The trickster then magicked his helmet away, looking at the buttons on the ship. He pressed one just for fun and fireworks shot out the back, a hologram of En singing 'It's my birthday!' popping up on the dash. Loki's eyes widened.

"Oh.. my.. god." Loki looked over at En with a devilish grin. "This is definitely something else." En had quickly slammed the button, turning it off.

"Yeah.. um.. that's for uh... some stuff." En tried to explain.

"What you mean to say is your orgy parties. Yes, I know all about those. One of the girls at the tower filled me in." Loki mused. He'd been waiting for an opening to talk about it. "She says you're kinky as hell. You haven't tried anything crazy with me yet, but judging by your comment about the helmet, you are." En wasn't even embarrassed at all.

"Who isn't kinky?" En asked, shrugging.

"Then why aren't you trying things out on me?" Loki was honestly a bit offended that he hadn't asked.

"I don't know.." En clearly knew, but didn't want to talk about it.

"Tonight. Bring it on. There's nothing you can do to drive me away now." Loki spoke bravely to him and En laughed softly.

"Alright, whatever you say, princess." En replied in sort of a 'yes dear' kind of tone.

They kept cruising the planet, looking for a decent spot of planet. Turns out, it was all trash. It was definitely disappointing, but it wasn't too bad considering all of the conversational time they'd had during the trip. It had taken them all day, and when they got back, Loki was restless. En could sense it, so he took Loki back to the room with him. He gave Loki bedroom eyes and that was all it took to get the trickster to follow him. En wrapped his arms around Loki and Loki playfully hopped up slightly, wrapping his legs around En's waist. The Grandmaster immediately took to kissing him, wanting to worship him. Loki was his god. He was truly falling in love with the little snake, and he was now doubting turning Loki in to Thanos. He'd really messed it up, so he'd have to think of something later to fix it. Currently, he was showing Loki what he truly desired.

In the morning, they both lay sleeping on the bed, Loki softly snoring. The room was trashed, but not beyond repair. The dresser and headboard had handprints burned into them from Loki's frost giant frostbite. The guards that stood outside the room had tried their best to drown out all of the noise. En woke up, looking up at the ceiling, a smile on his lips.

"Mmm.." En smiled over at Loki, gently caressing Loki's raven hair as the trickster slept. Hickeys littered both of their bodies, and their hair was disheveled. En couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun. The Grandmaster curled up close to Loki, wrapping his arms around the smaller male, pressing kisses to his neck and shoulders. Loki stirred in his sleep, then smiled before his eyelids fluttered open.

"Morning." En murmured into Loki's ear. If Loki wasn't already hard, he definitely was then. Just the sound of En's voice mixed with a low whisper tone had a stunning effect on the trickster.

"Good morning to you too." Loki murmured groggily, then turned in his arms to face him.

"You look like an absolute angel right now." En commented softly and Loki smiled. He felt like his heart was radiating out of his chest when En said that.

"So do you, En." Loki smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Last night was amazing." The trickster murmured against his lips, then nuzzled En's cheek.

"When I first met you, I never, um, thought you'd be so-" En started to say, but he couldn't find the words.

"Easy?" Loki suggested teasingly, flashing a grin at him. En's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"Oh, no, not at all. I had no idea you'd be so open to someone like me." They'd only known each other for maybe a week. It was quite a stretch, but it felt like one of those romances out of a movie. Loki shrugged, staying close to him as he looked up into his hazel eyes.

"I didn't think I would be either. You're a bad influence." Loki teased playfully. En leaned in and pressed kisses up and down his jawline. "And now you've marked me. What's to be done about that?" Loki was joking, but he wanted to know what En would say.

"You've done your fair share of marking too." En pointed out, feeling the small bruises give a tiny ache as he changed position slightly. It wasn't painful, just enough to be noticeable. "I want everyone here to know that you're mine." He murmured softly into Loki's ear. The god then nuzzled En's shoulder, curling up closer to him.

"Do you think this could turn into something?" Loki asked softly, curious to see what En was thinking.

"What?" En asked in reply.

"You know... this. This thing we keep doing." Loki murmured and pressed a few kisses to En's collarbone. "I've basically been your pet for the past week."

"It could.. but that's only if that's something you want." En spoke honestly, looking at his handsome god. He didn't think Loki would stay very long, and he had come to terms with that, but now the trickster seemed more than willing to stay in Sakaar. "Of course, I could always force you to stay, but I wouldn't do that." Loki raised an eyebrow and looked at him, wondering if he meant it.

"How do you keep yourself occupied here? There's hardly anything to do." Loki truly was curious how the Grandmaster spent his time.

"The games, my little trickster. The Sakaarian arena provides entertainment." En explained and Loki rolled his eyes playfully.

"You can't just sit and watch games for your entire lifespan." Loki tried to explain it to him, but En wasn't fazed by it. "Back on Asgard, I'd learn combat and magic. Mostly magic. My brother was the shining fighter, of course. He'd always kick my ass in combat, but that made me fight ten times harder. I took up magic and showed him who the real winner is." Loki laughed softly, then curled up with En.

"I do paint, you know." En spoke softly and Loki nodded.

"Maybe I could show you Asgard sometime. I think you'd love it." Loki smiled and En leaned in, kissing him softly.

"I'd love that, darling." En murmured against his lips.

Although they stayed in bed and cuddled up talking for a majority of the day, they did find time to get showers and play a few games. En mostly won, though Loki suspected that En let him win some of them. After all, En knew and had mastered all of the games in the galaxy. He just enjoyed having someone that enjoyed intellectually stimulating games as much as he did. Even though they were relaxing for the entire day, En had thought of something fun for them both to do. A spa-day for the boys was what he'd thought of. A bro spa-day. He wasn't going to tell Loki about it though, because he wanted it to be a surprise, and also because of the fact that Loki would probably say no. So when En lured Loki away to a relaxation room in the tower, Loki was a little more than confused. En led him inside and waved his arm like supermodels do on game shows.

"I thought you could use a nice pampering. You are a god, after all. I can only do so much with my makeup, you know." En walked him over to a chair and motioned for him to sit down. "Besides, I need my nails done, so why not have yours done too?" Loki laughed softly, shaking his head.

"This is... interesting to say the least." Loki mused as servants came over to get started on their manicures. "People are going to start thinking you're my sugar daddy if you keep treating me so wonderfully."

"Sugar daddy?" En raised an eyebrow and Loki chuckled, shaking his head once more.

"It's a Midgardian phrase. It's when men who happen to be wealthy and older than the other partner give them gifts and services in exchange for.. well, you get the picture." Loki explained, wishing he didn't have to.

"It's so fun to shower you in attention, though. How am I ever supposed to stop when you keep being the way you are?" En asked, leaving Loki to question it.

"Not that I mind. I love it." Loki shrugged and watched as the servants got to work fixing his fingernails. En winked playfully at Loki and one of the servants caught it. She knew what the Grandmaster was up to, but she would never tell. Confidentiality was key with the dictator. If you were good for him, he'd put in a good word for you. By this time, Loki had completely won over the Grandmaster's affection, and the trickster knew that it would be too late to consider overthrowing him. Why the hell would he overthrow him when he could just be the metaphorical yin to En's yang? He was finding the Grandmaster quite tolerable, actually. Loki glanced over to see the servants doing En's nails. He noticed En's nails when he'd first arrived in Sakaar, and he'd just as soon felt them taking down his back during their wild nights together. At any rate, he'd need them done constantly to keep up with the way he treated them. Loki kept his painted black sometimes, but he hadn't painted them in a while. The servants started to paint his nails black and he raised an eyebrow, wondering how they knew exactly what he wanted.

"Then I'm your sugar daddy." En spoke playfully, grinning over to him. Loki laughed, smiling like a fool.

"I suppose you are." Loki replied simply, watching the glossy coat go on top of his shiny black nail polish. En's nails were painted an electric blue, of course. Loki made a mental note to make En's future gifts that theme color as well. After nails, En stood up, stripping himself of his robes. Loki's eyes widened and he blushed a bright red. "En!" He exclaimed and En furrowed his brows.

"What? We're getting a massage." En explained and Loki felt his heart rate return back to normal.

"I thought you were going to do something else." Loki clarified and En laughed.

"Only if you like doing naughty things in front of servants." En truly was up for anything, but he was at least considerate enough to ask his partners first. Loki shook his head in response.

"Ummm.... I'm good." He replied softly and laughed a little, more as a nervous laugh.

"That's too bad. It's quite fun. Heightens the senses." En whispered into his ear. "If you think that's crazy, you should come to one of my 'parties'."

"Parties?" Loki was curious. He already knew the basics, but he wanted En to tell him more before he assumed.

"Mmmm... well, I find a few other attractive individuals and we go to the Commodore and.." En waggled his eyebrows, grinning as he waited for Loki's response.

"So... a space orgy?" Loki murmured back, his eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Mhm! Don't worry though, my attention will be on you the most, my little trickster." En explained and motioned for Loki to lay down for a massage. The both received some top notch massages, but all Loki could think of was the probability that he might be participating in an orgy later. He looked over at En, curious to see who else the Grandmaster thought was worthy enough to participate.

After they were done getting massages, they both got dressed and En led Loki down the hall.

"Don't worry. Everyone has a policy of being discreet. No one will know but us." En explained as they walked down the hall toward the main area. "I have a few people already in mind. Make some friends and I'll be right back, pumpkin." He smiled and Loki nodded, walking to the nearest couch. He didn't want to be social, but he had to be for the moment. In just a matter of time, En brought back two women and one man with him who were following him like lost puppies. En winked and held out a hand to him. "Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Loki shrugged and stood up, walking with them. He was discreetly checking them all out, and so far, he'd found them all to his liking. Loki couldn't even act like he was innocent in all of this. He loved pleasure when he had the time to enjoy it. Loki followed En down to the spaceship and they all boarded it. This time, there was a tray of drinks there, a bubbly green liquid in each of them. En handed Loki a drink.

"You do want this, right? Once you take this, you'll be off to dreamland, my dear." En caressed Loki's cheek, trying to assure him that it would be alright. He had a captain for the ship, so it wouldn't be a problem once they were all trashed. Loki accepted the drink, watching as En put what he assumed was space ecstasy into his own drink, then Loki's.

"Of course I do." The trickster responded, a grin creeping across his lips. En linked his arm in Loki's playfully as a toast like couples do at weddings.

"Bottoms up." En mused and took a long sip of the drink. Loki did the same, feeling the effects immediately. He braced himself on the side of the ship, feeling very floaty.

"Sh...shit. En, I feel.." Loki almost fell and En caught him, laughing softly.

"Don't worry babe... I've got ya." En slurred his words as he tried to assure Loki that it would be fine. After the trickster got used to the floaty feeling, he looked up at En, seeing sparkles everywhere. En looked absolutely gorgeous in the lighting. Loki immediately crashed his lips into the Grandmaster's, tangling his fingers in En's hair.

"Just shut up and kiss me." Loki slurred, murmuring against his lips. En happily obliged, kissing him hard. After a moment, Loki felt himself being tugged away. One of the girls pulled him close and started to undress him, kissing him all the while. En was pulled away by the man they'd invited. After what had seemed like an eternity, the door of the ship opened and Valkyrie stepped in.

"Grandmaster, sir, we've found a champion." She spoke, unfazed by the whole situation until she saw the other Asgardian in the middle of it. "He says he's looking for his brother."

"Bring him in when we get back, would you, love?" En slurred and went back to kissing Loki, the god of lies eager to please his true King. Loki knew not what relation he was to Thor at the moment, nor even what his name was. The trickster would come to forget about the encounter and Valkyrie would not dare bring it up, at least, until she needed it for blackmail purposes.

[End of Flashback]

A few weeks had passed since Loki, En, and Sleipnir's fun family day in New York. They'd spent weeks together as a family and it had been quite nice. Loki and En had also been working on trying to find a solution to their Thanos problem, but they hadn't figured out quite what to do yet. Loki knew that if he gave Thanos the Tesseract that there was a good chance that he would kill Loki on the spot. En had been trying to find a solution to that problem, testing out his magic. He was trying to find a way to make Loki immortal like he was, but he hadn't been successful just yet for some reason. Loki was feeling rather downcast because nothing was working. Things weren't seeming to go their way just yet. He hoped that somehow the stars would align and allow them to defeat Thanos. The Mad Titan hadn't shown up yet, so maybe having En teleport them had thrown him off course.

"Why isn't it working?!" Loki exclaimed in frustration, chewing his bottom lip in anticipation.

"You just have to be patient, dear. I don't know why my magic isn't working to turn you immortal. I used exactly the right spell and everything!" En ran his fingertips through his hair. "Why don't you just let me take the cube to Thanos? I can't die!"

"He'll find a way! I know him. I know what he's capable of!" Loki was scared to know what Thanos would do to the only one he cared about.

"You have no idea what he's capable of! That's why you're terrified!" En clarified, having read Loki's mind.

"Don't do that!" Loki spoke, his voice straining now as he was at his wit's end.

"Sorry.. I just.. I thought it was in your best interest that I did." En sighed softly, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm sorry." Loki apologized, shaking his head. "I think we've been at this too long. We'll regroup later and try to figure this out." He suggested and took a seat on the bed, needing a break. En walked out of the room for a while, wanting to take a walk to clear his head, practicing a few magic spells. Thor had come to see Loki, able to see that he was clearly upset. He questioned what was wrong, and Loki told him. Loki didn't tell him about the whole plan involving the Tesseract, but he did tell him about what else had been bothering him. He and Thor had grown closer over the time that they'd been staying in Avenger's Tower together. It was so nice, but at the same time bittersweet to know that soon he'd have to again risk everything, including the relationship he had with his brother to give Thanos the cube and save them all. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Having confided in Thor, he decided to go ahead with the other thing that he'd been questioning. Thor decided to fully support his brother no matter what, even though he knew nothing about the plan that En and Loki had been trying to figure out. After a small while, En returned back to the bedroom, only to find that Loki had been in the bathroom. Loki had been in the bathroom for quite some time, mostly because he hadn't been feeling well for the past couple of weeks, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to stay in the bathroom for some time. After a few minutes, the trickster walked out of the bathroom, looking to his boyfriend with a soft and worried expression. Loki chewed at his bottom lip nervously, not sure what to say. He held out a small white stick in front of him that had two blue lines glaring at him. He knew En probably had no idea what it meant, so he clarified it for him.

"I'm pregnant." Loki finally spoke, his voice shaking a little.

Notes:

So how is that for a surprise? This is all leading up to an explosive end at some point in the future. How many chapters until then? I don't really know for sure, but I'm not trying to rush it. Thank you again to everyone for all your support!

Chapter 7: Trapped

Notes:

Is all well in Waffleville? I guess you'll have to read to find out. It must have been absolutely agonizing to make you wait a whole week to know how En reacted to the news about the baby. I think you'll be quite happy with how it turns out.

"You're, um, what?" En spoke, mainly in shock rather than questioning what he meant by that statement.

"I'm pregnant." Loki spoke again, feeling extremely numb from all of it. He rubbed his face, a nervous gesture as he wondered what En would think. "I guess I should have thought about this earlier, but I had no clue.."

"So you're going to have a baby?" En asked, looking up at Loki. He was in shock.

"It's yours. No question about that." Loki explained with a half-hearted smile and took a seat beside En. He still couldn't tell if En was happy or not.

"How long?" En had a million questions, but he'd stick to the important ones.

"Six weeks." Loki responded, hoping En wouldn't react badly to the news. En's eyes widened and he looked at Loki, finally looking right into his eyes.

"That, uh, puts a slight kink into our plans." En explained, not sure how to react.

"Yeah..." Loki trailed off and then he spoke up again. "Please let me know how you're feeling about this. Don't shut me out. I won't be mad if you will just be honest with me." The trickster knew it would hurt if En wanted to skip out, but he would understand. Loki didn't really know how to feel about it all either. The next thing that En did was surprising to him. He moved in closer to Loki and wrapped his arms around the trickster.

"Well, obviously I'm feeling a whole, um, range of things. I'm going to be a dad! That's incredible. I mean, I guess I knew you could have kids because of Sleipnir but I assumed that was only when you were shapeshifting.." En tried to explain to him, but nonetheless staying by his side. He pressed a kiss to Loki's cheek, smiling against his skin. "My god.. we're going to be parents!" That simple statement caused Loki to smile. It felt good to have someone so supportive as his companion in life. Loki teared up, feeling out of control of his emotions.

"We are... En we're going to be parents." Loki echoed En's statement and leaned into him, holding him close. He couldn't believe how different this experience would be from when he had Sleipnir. He wasn't single this time.. he had someone to be by his side and to help raise the kid with him. "You're not the last of your race anymore." He murmured to En. "The baby will be part of you." En felt himself starting to get emotional too.

"Wow.. I uh, I didn't think of it that way. That's incredible! I'm so excited!" En smiled brightly, which put a smile on Loki's face.

"Out of the end of an era begins a new one." Loki mused in reference to the destruction of Asgard, staying close to En.

"Should we tell anyone? I mean, I don't really know the procedure for this kind of thing.." En was his awkward self, and Loki loved it.

"Well, I'm thinking I should tell Thor that he'll be an uncle. Maybe we could wait a little while and keep it to ourselves though. The Avengers will no doubt behave stressfully about it enough as is it." Loki explained and snuggled into En's side, taking in his scent as he did. "You're going to be a great father. You're already doing so well with Sleipnir." That brought up a problem. How were they supposed to fight Thanos like this? "I think that's why your immortality spell wasn't working. It's because I was with child."

"That would make sense.." En pointed out and then he got an idea. "Should we go ahead and let Sleipnir know? He's going to be a big brother.." En smiled to Loki and Loki nodded.

"I don't know if he'd be good at keeping it a secret, but you're definitely right." Loki replied with a happy smile. Loki and En walked down the hall to Sleipnir's room, not only to check up on him, but also to give him the news. Loki knocked on the door with the coded knock that he and Sleip had agreed on and Sleipnir opened the door. He smiled brightly.

"Mommy!" Sleipnir giggled as he saw Loki and then smiled more when he saw En. He ran into their legs, hugging them both. Loki chuckled and En leaned down, gently picking him up.

"What's up, Sleip?" En asked with enthusiasm and Sleipnir grinned from ear to ear.

"Uncle Thor gave me a pet dinosaur." Sleipnir whispered into En's ear and the Grandmaster noticed a stuffed dinosaur on the bed.

"Wow.. he's the coolest uncle ever. You know, I uh, I saw dinosaurs in action when they roamed the Earth. I'll have to tell you about it sometime." En played along and smiled at Loki, pausing a moment before he started again. "Your mom and I have some news for you."

"News?" Sleipnir asked like kids usually do, very inquisitively. En walked over, sitting on the edge of the bed with Sleipnir. Loki joined him and decided to give the news.

"We're going to have a baby, Sleip. You're going to be a big brother." Loki smiled, watching for his reaction. He hoped it would be a good one. Sleipnir's eyes widened and he smiled, excited. He liked being an independent child, but having a brother or sister to play with would be a lot more entertaining for him.

"Imma be a big bruvver?" Sleipnir smiled, giddy with excitement. Loki nodded and hugged him close, which led to En enveloping them both in his long arms. It was a sweet moment. That was undeniable.

After they'd told Sleipnir, En and Loki let him get back to playing video games and playing with his dinosaur toys, both of them sort of numbed by the news. Everything seemed to be going well, which was normally a sign for Loki that things wouldn't last that way. En and Loki walked into the main room of Avenger's Tower, intent on not telling the other Avengers the news. Loki didn't want any excess attention on him unless it was from En. En had decided that he wanted to surprise Loki later with some roses and a nice evening together, so he had to make up an excuse to leave the Tower. He'd been getting pointers from Tony Stark on romance, which Tony was surprisingly happy to offer. He pressed a kiss to Loki's lips, leaning in to whisper something to him.

"I'm going to head out to, um, take a walk." En wasn't good at excuses, but Loki thought that maybe this had been a bit much for him and that he needed some air.

"I love you." Loki murmured back into his ear, smiling in response as he allowed his companion's hand to slip out of his as En headed out. The Avengers trusted them enough now to let them leave the tower without supervision now. The Grandmaster's plan was working so far, and he was almost giddy as he left the tower. He couldn't wait to surprise Loki. Showering his lover in gifts was always a good idea, mainly because he wanted to see Loki smile genuinely. Always.

He walked down the street, a clear direction in mind. He was good at blending in now for the most part. He felt goosebumps prickle his skin as he felt an abnormal amount of magic coursing through the air. He slowly looked up as the sun practically disappeared. A portal had overcome the skyline of the city and his eyes widened as he saw a huge figure with purple skin emerge from it. He had a positively sick grin on his lips and he was out for blood. En stopped where he was, noticing that Thanos was looking in his direction.

"The man of the hour," Thanos began, his voice deep and menacing. "I was looking for the trickster, but you'll do." The purple alien laughed, almost like an earthquake as it was shaking the ground. En tried to be inconspicuous, turning slightly to pretend like he didn't know that Thanos was talking to him. The alien started walking and En hurried in the other direction, back toward the tower. He ducked under the canopy of the storefronts, but it was mere seconds before Thanos had him in his grip. He picked En up like a doll, spinning him to face the Mad Titan. Civilians everywhere were screaming and running away.

"You're a long way from home, Sakaarian. Your brother didn't have the orb, so I know you must have it. I felt the pulse of an infinity gem from worlds away." Thanos was right about the gem, but he didn't have it. Loki had the tesseract, but he would never give Loki up.

"You're right. Taneleer doesn't have it. The, uh, Guardians of the Galaxy have it." En didn't give two shits about them, so he would sell them out instead. Besides, it would be seven of them against Thanos, not Thanos against En.

"You seem to think you can pawn off the blame on someone else. It won't work this time." Thanos spoke with a menacing tone, gripping En tighter. En grimaced, closing his eyes as he felt the Titan's grip threatening to crush his spine.

"I got tipped off! They, uh, stole it from, um, Taneleer!" En cried out in a last ditch effort to save himself from injury. He was getting increasingly more nervous. Thanos shook his head.

"I'm taking you with me. If you are lying, I will woo Lady Death myself into taking your immortality away." Thanos explained and kept his grip on En as he carried him into the portal. En thought Thanos was a huge idiot, but now he was a huge idiot with a lot of power, and he would have to work hard not to get gravely maimed by that same man. En struggled, though it was for nothing. In the blink of an eye, he found himself on Thanos' giant spaceship.

"You know, it's looking very, uh, lonely here without that Chitauri guy, Nebula, and Ronan here. How did that happen? Did your playmates run off?" En spoke teasingly, causing Thanos to hurl him onto the ground. "Fuck!" En exclaimed, clutching his chest as he felt the air leave his lungs.

"Any other questions?" Thanos growled, looking at him with disdain.

"Nope." En managed to get out, feeling pain in his chest as he breathed in again. His eyes widened as he remembered Loki on Terra. He would think that En left him. He immediately knew that Thanos would have the power to read his mind. Loki. He tried to shield his mind from Thanos immediately and when it didn't work, he panicked. He didn't want Thanos to know that Loki had the Tesseract, and he was willing to do whatever it took to keep his lover safe. If he wiped his memories, he would forget Loki, but Loki would be safe. He was weak after the hit he took, so he'd only have enough magic to wipe his memories. He knew Loki would be able to fix it once they were reunited, so the Grandmaster braced himself against the wall, lifting his fingers to his head. Thanos saw him, but was too late. En closed his eyes, forgetting everything from the last few weeks. Thanos roared out in anger.

"You imbecile! For this, you'll pay immeasurably!" He punched En square in the face, knocking him out. For even an immortal, it was a grave blow. En would wake up, but only because Death could not claim him.

--------------------------------------------

Back at the tower, Loki was getting worried.

"Do you know what happened to En? I mean, he's been gone a while." Loki mentioned to Thor and his brother pulled Loki aside, wanting to talk to him.

"Did he leave you, brother?" Thor asked curiously, having known about Loki's possible pregnancy news.

"No! I mean, I don't think so. He was ecstatic.. and he said he was going to take a walk." Loki explained and Thor shook his head.

"I swear on the Norns, I will hunt him down to the ends of the universe if he has left you, brother." Thor was growing increasingly frustrated by the second.

"I'm sure he had good reason to do whatever he was going to do." Loki tried to calm Thor's fears, more or less trying to convince himself too.

"He better have. I warned you that he would not be a serious courting prospect." Thor countered and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Don't you dare turn this into an 'I told you so' thing." Loki warned him and looked down at the ground, having second thoughts about everything.

"Wait, so you're..are you with child?" Thor asked, a smile growing on his lips, and Loki waited a moment before nodded, letting a small smile slip past his lips too.

"Yeah.. I am." Loki replied honestly and Thor smiled brightly.

"Congratulations, brother!" Thor clapped a hand onto his brother's back, then brought him in for a hug. Loki hugged him back tightly, even though he was still a little mad about Thor's lack of faith in En. His protective older brother act was endearing. Loki had a nagging fear in his mind that En did indeed skip out, but more so a fear that En was in trouble. He felt a link between himself and En, and for some reason, he had a pit of worry growing inside him.

"Thank you brother." Loki murmured, then looked to his brother, a concerned expression on his face. "Can we look for him if he isn't back soon?" Loki asked curiously and Thor nodded.

"Of course." Thor promised and again patted Loki's back.

"Thank you again. I'm just so worried." Loki admitted, then stopped Thor before he could leave the hall. "Don't tell anyone about the baby, alright? I want it to be kept a secret."

"I won't. Congratulations again, Loki." Thor smiled like a teddy bear and Loki leaned back against the wall. He felt a pang of anxiety resting there in his chest even as he tried to quell it. He knew En wouldn't leave him, but then again, they'd both only meant it to be a small fling originally. Now it was a relationship with parenting and commitments. Loki was a bit overwhelmed by it all too, to be completely truthful. He hoped that he hadn't let En slip through his delicate fingertips. As much as he wanted to look for En by himself, he was afraid of what he might find or not find, and he wanted Thor there as somewhat of a voice of reason. He had come very close to flying off his handle a couple of times lately, but if he lost En, he was sure it would destroy him. He brushed his hair back in a nervous gesture, watching as Thor walked away. He couldn't stop thinking about En. He paved the floor of Avengers Tower, waiting the minimum amount of time before tugging Thor aside again. It had been a few hours.

"Please, just indulge me brother. Come with me to look for him. I have magic.. I can possibly locate him." Loki suggested and Thor nodded, noticing how important it was to his brother that they find the Grandmaster. Loki headed out with Thor, dressed in their winter clothes. Loki focused his magic, using one of En's shirts as the main locator object. No matter how hard he tried to make it work, it wasn't working. It meant En wasn't on Earth. He was starting to panic.

"Thor, its not working... he.. he's got to be.." Loki started to try to explain and Thor shook his head.

"We don't know anything for sure. Perhaps your magic is weaker because of your state?" Thor suggested, referring to Loki being pregnant.

"It has never just completely failed before. I know him. He wouldn't leave. He wouldn't leave me over this." Loki frowned, crossing his arms, En's shirt draped over his arm as he held it. That was when Steve patched in a call to Thor on the Avenger's card. Thor pulled it out, using it like a phone.

"Yes! Captain, what is it?" Thor asked and Loki watched as Thor's expression changed, getting somewhat more gloomy.

"What is it?" Loki asked persistently after Thor hung up.

"The man of freedom says that Thanos was sighted in New York today. He also mentioned that Thanos carried off a man today through the portal." Thor explained and Loki's stomach churned. He knew he had to be En.

"By the Norns.. we can't let him get away! Who knows where they are now?" Loki was scared now. He was scared like he had never been before.

"He didn't kill En, brother. He must be using him for something." Thor suggested, trying to calm Loki.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Loki spoke as they teleported back to Avengers Tower.

--------------------------------------------

Back on Thanos' ship, En was waking up. At first, all he could see was black, but his vision started to clear after a moment. All he knew in that moment was pain. His back and chest ached. His throat was sore and a metallic taste rested uncomfortably in his dry mouth. The Grandmaster laid on the floor of the- cell? He looked around, seeing a forcefield around him in the shape of a cube. It must have been a cell. He slowly sat up, his arm going to his chest as he felt a stinging pain hit him. He glanced over to the side wall, seeing a mirror and then seeing the bed. He looked awful. Blood stained his white hair, under his nose, and his lip was split. His head burned like a fire, presumably from where Thanos had sucker-punched him. En looked to the forcefield, seeing Thanos staring at him. He had no recollection of Loki anymore because he had wiped his memories to save his prince of lies.

"You cost me my trickster." Thanos spoke angrily, looking at the Grandmaster. "Why?" En was truly confused by this, not knowing what to say.

"I... I honestly don't know what you're referring to." En spoke, trying to be cordial.

"You teleported an entire ship containing Thor, Loki, and an infinity gem away from me. You will pay dearly for that." Thanos tried to jog his memory.

"I don't uh, I don't remember." En stammered and Thanos growled.

"That's because you put a memory spell on yourself. I know because I tried to see them. Your memories were gone." Thanos was extremely pissed, and he was going to make En pay for what he'd done. "You must care an awful lot about someone.." En's brain was foggy, but he couldn't remember any of the names Thanos had listed off. "But none the matter. You'll suffer regardless. You'll bring your memories back or I'll torture them out of you." Thanos said it like it was a matter-of-fact thing. En didn't know if he could bring his memories back or not. He was in deep trouble.

"I..I'm sorry. I don't know where any of those people or that thing is." En managed to get out, leaning back on the metal bed he was provided. At least there was a bed.

"You will." Thanos spoke menacingly, leaving him alone in the cell to think.

----------------------------------------------

When Thor and Loki arrived back at Avengers Tower, a squadron of Avengers were already ready to go. Loki looked to Thor, his eyes pleading.

"I have to go. I have to save him." Loki looked adamant on the issue. Thor frowned as he looked at his baby brother.

"You're with child, Loki, I can't let you go." Thor protested and Loki felt his heart sinking.

"Thor, he's the only person that I've ever loved this way. He would do the same for me. I will give him no less." Loki argued and Thor sighed.

"I don't want you to get hurt, brother. Let the Avengers take care of this." Thor suggested and Loki shook his head.

"I can't. I won't stand by and let Thanos torture En." Loki looked to Thor and then around to where the Avengers were meeting. "Pepper can look after Sleipnir until I return. I will return, Thor. I promise." Loki meant it when he promised this time. No more tricks. Thor gave him a look that meant that he better keep his promise, but there was a sadness there. In the past few weeks, Thor and Loki had gotten to spend more time just as brothers, and it seemed like every time they got close, something happened to tear them apart. Thor pulled Loki in for a big hug.

"I will accompany you. You are my brother, and I would not forgive myself if anything happened to you. Our mission is to rescue En. Then you will get out of the way while we take care of Thanos. I do not want you or your child getting hurt." Thor explained, squeezing him tightly in the hug before letting go. With a nod, they both set out to find Thanos, first changing into their battle attire.

-----------------------------------

En sat on the cold metal bed, wondering what Thanos had in store for him. It couldn't be good, seeing as how the Mad Titan had threatened to make him suffer earlier. He couldn't- for the life of himself - remember Loki or Thor. He saw his smeared blue eyeliner in the mirror, looking into the depths of his soul as he thought deeply about it. Maybe he did care about one of them. How did he get captured? He had so many questions. When Thanos returned, he had food. He slid the tray in the cell and En eyed it cautiously.

"Eat." Thanos spoke quite bluntly and the Grandmaster shook his head, not trusting of the big fellow.

"Fuck you." He spoke rather venomously towards Thanos, trying with every fiber of his being to stay strong mentally even though he was screwed physically. Thanos laughed eerily, making En think that maybe he shouldn't have said that. Too late. The Titan had risen out of his seat, turning the forcefield around the cell off as he walked closer. En looked up at him with wide eyes, his mind racing. He felt like a rat trapped in a cage. Thanos lifted him up by the collar of his tattered blue sweater bringing En up face to face with him.

"Would you like to say that again to my face, pretty boy?" The purple Titan grinned menacingly. He was just like a schoolyard bully. En was defiant, but he knew better than to take another shot at him up close. He shook his head and Thanos threw him to the ground, causing En to curl up in pain, crying out and wincing as he felt his weak body being battered again.

"You're learning. You might be an Elder of the Universe, but around here, I call the shots." Thanos chided him, then lifted him back up, gently this time. "I need you. You are going to show me where the other infinity gems are." Thanos placed his hand to En's head and En's eyes widened as he felt a searing pain shoot through his head. His eyes were glowing with golden light, Thanos using his power to see into En's past. At one point in time, En knew where all of the infinity gems were, but that would only get Thanos so far because they had switched hands so many times before. Thanos took his hand away once he realized that, placing En back on the ground. "You've just become expendable, my friend."

--------------------------------------------

Loki used his power to teleport them into space, but he hadn't the first clue of where to look. He knew Thanos was looking for the gems, so he could make a few guesses, but he couldn't pinpoint the ship. He remembered that En had visualized Avengers Tower when they had landed on Earth. He hoped maybe that would be something he could learn how to do. He knew what Thanos' ship looked like, inside and out. That could work to his advantage. He looked to Thor, then took his brother's hand.

"I'm going to try something, but I'm not sure if it is going to work or not." Loki was being honest. He hoped that it would, but his magic wasn't as practiced as En's.

"I believe in you." Thor spoke with a smile, which was almost comical, but he meant well. Loki concentrated as hard as he could, visualizing Thanos' ship. He thought about the terrifying throne that sat at the helm of the ship, the metallic walls and the cell he'd spent so long cowering in. It was almost too much for him to experience all over again, but he knew he had to do it for En's sake. He took a deep breath and gave it his best shot. When he teleported, the next thing he felt was the crashing of metal against his arm. He'd crashed them straight into the top of Thanos' ship. Thor held onto Loki's hand, saving him from falling off of the side.

"That was close." Loki spoke, out of breath. The teleportation had been taxing. "Now to get on the inside."

"You really must be more careful brother." Thor reminded him and Loki rolled his eyes playfully.

"I know." Loki murmured as he looked for an entrance. "Ooh!" He pointed to a distant exit on the top of the ship and Thor followed as he led the way to it. He didn't think they'd just be able to walk in, so he was expecting some sort of alarm. He pushed in the door after some magical persuasion, then proceeded to sneak through the corridors of the ship, hoping not to run into Thanos. Thanos was a big guy, so a safe bet would be to stick to the smaller spaces, which is what Loki did. The ship smelled like metallic garbage, which was turning Loki's stomach. He held his nose as he looked around, trying to keep his head about things. Thor wanted to laugh, but he refrained himself. The trickster followed the sound of the booming voice until they could all but see him. Loki wanted to get some intel. Hopefully he would slip details about where he was keeping En. His question was soon answered as he heard En's sultry voice fill the air. Instead of it being it's regular seductive tone, it sounded strained and weak.

"Look, if I was going to hide, uh, an infinity stone, it would be in the hands, um, of someone high up. Some form of government." En suggested, leaning on the chair he was provided. Thanos rubbed his chin.

"Your brother didn't have the stone. I assumed you stole it." Thanos accused En of stealing the stone and En shook his head.

"No! No... I just wanted to be on Sakaar and watch the games. I don't want to mess up your plans. That's the last thing I want to do." En explained tiredly and he glanced over to the side, noticing Loki standing there. Loki's eyes widened and he gave En a hopeful look, but because En wiped his memories, he had no idea who he was.

"I think we've got some.. um.. visitors." En mentioned to Thanos and Thanos turned, noticing the trickster lurking in the shadows.

"Loki!" Thanos' voice boomed through the air of the ship as he got a Cheshire Cat type of grin on his face. "Just the man I've been looking for." Loki didn't quite have this planned out. Stealth was the first plan, and now it was shot. Now he'd have to smooth it out with Thanos. He wasn't the god of lies for nothing.

"Ah, Lord Thanos, its wonderful to see you." Loki laid it on thick as he walked out, bowing to the giant purple space alien. Thanos was shocked, but he already had Loki trapped.

"What did I tell you about the tesseract? You failed in your mission. You told me you wouldn't fail." Thanos started, causing Loki to be more nervous, chills running down his spine. "You also told me that you would bring me back the tesseract. You were doing my bidding, but it seems to me like you were doing what was best for Loki."

"I apologize your grace. I haven't gotten to meet up with you to give you the tesseract, but now I am here, and I want something in exchange." Loki spoke, silver lies coming off the tip of his tongue. The tesseract was still at Avengers Tower.

"Something in exchange?" Thanos laughed in his face. "You must be joking. I gave you an army! I didn't kill you, is that not enough?" Loki licked his lips slightly, afraid to push the boundaries.

"Just a small thing. I want the Grandmaster." Loki spoke firmly, yet gracefully. En watched, furrowing his brows as he looked at Loki. In his mind, he was ogling Loki already. Even without his memories, he'd always find Loki incredibly hot. As Loki glanced over at the Grandmaster, En winked at him, biting his lip seductively. Loki blushed slightly, but hoped Thanos wouldn't notice.

"The Grandmaster? In exchange for an infinity stone? You ask for so little." Thanos simpered, shaking his head. "I'll accept your deal." Loki was relieved, but he still had one trick up his sleeve.

"Give me the Grandmaster first, then I will relinquish the tesseract." Loki tried to lure him, making him give En back first so that he could teleport out with Thor and En safely. Just as he thought things were going well, Thanos laughed with a spine chilling tone.

"You're the god of lies. Search him." He spoke to the guards who stayed at the sides of the room. Before he could protest, the guards were poking and prodding, looking for something that wasn't there. He was trapped. They looked to Thanos and gave a shake of their heads, indicating that he didn't have it. "Imprison him. I'm not done with him yet." Thanos commanded and the guards pushed Loki to the ground. Thor ran out to help, exposing his presence. En felt something, but he wasn't sure what it was. He felt empathy for the little trickster. Loki cringed as he was pushed, cushioning his fall with his hands.

Notes:

Loki Silver-tongue Laufeyson has gotten himself into a sticky predicament. Will he be able to get himself out of this one? Guess you'll have to find out in the next chapter!

Chapter 8: Potential

Loki felt the guards being rough with him as they hoisted him up, space handcuffs tightening on his wrists. Thor practically barked at them to be careful and Loki attempted to cooperate for the safety of himself and his unborn child. He was confused as to why En wasn't doing anything to help him out. He was just standing there, doing Thanos' bidding like a mindless slave.

"What the hell are you doing? Help us!" Loki cried out to the Grandmaster in frustration.

"I'm sorry... I uh, I have to go along with what the boss says. You're very beautiful though. I wish I could save you." En spoke sympathetically and Thanos glanced to him with an odd look. Loki's eyes widened as he felt his heart breaking. What if En had skipped out and joined Thanos? What if he was acting like he didn't know them to save his own ass? How could he just skip out on Loki, Sleipnir, and their unborn child like that? Loki felt tears threatening to escape. He had been more emotional lately, which wasn't helping in a situation where he needed to remain calm. Both he and Thor were dragged into a cell together immediately, which wouldn't have been a good idea if the forcefield hadn't have been strong enough to hold them both. Unfortunately it was. Thor could tell how upset Loki was getting and he walked over to where Loki had been seated, the trickster's knees pulled up to his chest.

"I know you're upset. Maybe he betrayed us. Maybe he didn't, but we can't lose our heads. We've got to get out of this hellhole." Thor was doing a marvelous job at motivational speaking at the moment. That's when Loki lost it. When he looked at his brother, seeing how much he cared, he started to cry. Thor hooked his arm around his brother and pulled him close.

"He... he... I thought he loved me." Loki whimpered, hiding his face in Thor's tunic like a child. Thor really felt for him. He caressed Loki's back, trying to calm him like their mother used to do.

"Hey... you remember that time when we were young and you fell down and skinned your knees? You were upset and so I sang to you. Everyone made fun of me, but none of that mattered. It was that song that mother used to sing to you. It calmed you down." Thor mused and then started to hum it to him, then softly sang.

When Thor had finished, Loki was sniffling, his face still buried. It meant so much to him that Thor would go to such great lengths to make him feel better. He had calmed down a bit and he looked up at Thor, feeling ashamed of showing weakness.

"I'm so sorry.. I just, everything's so overwhelming lately." Loki apologized and Thor shook his head.

"No need to apologize, brother. I understand." Thor assured him and Loki looked around the cell.

"We've got to get out of here. It's a magic blocking cell. I've been here before, so I know what it does. I never figured out how to get out before... I'm hoping that we can trick En into letting us out. I don't know.." Loki was just firing off ideas, hoping one would stick and make sense. Thor looked around, trying to see any weakness in the cage. Loki was a better critical thinker, so he left most of that to Loki. Thor was thinking of how they'd have to punch their way out. After what felt like hours, the door to the cell hall opened. Loki tensed, thinking it was Thanos at first. The footfalls were light as a feather, however, so he knew it couldn't be the Mad Titan. Loki looked up and saw En walking over to their cell. He looked at Thor and Loki as if he were trying to place them in his mind. The door was locked right behind him in the hall.

"En.. you need to tell me right now if you're faking this whole memory loss thing right now. If you've betrayed us, act like a fucking man and tell me." Loki had enough. He wanted the truth. En furrowed his brow.

"I uh, I really have no idea who you are. Should I?" En asked, looking at the both of them, still confused. Thor was getting angrier by the second.

"You're my boyfriend! We've been dating for the past month and a half and I'm pregnant with your child, so yeah, I was hoping you'd remember." Loki was frustrated and En's eyes widened a little.

"Really?! I, um, I'm sorry I don't remember you. I must have been the most lucky man in the whole universe.." En smiled, looking at Loki before he frowned once more. "Thanos told me that you would lie to try and get out." En was truly fighting his emotions. Thor sighed in frustration.

"He really covered all angles of this, didn't he?" Thor added to the conversation and Loki's heart sank.

"Just... just let me touch your forehead.. I can bring your memories back. You know in your mind that something isn't there. You have to." Loki pled with him and En shook his head.

"I can't. Thanos would be pissed. I know what he's like when he's angry." En stepped into the light and Loki gasped, seeing the various bruises that littered En's face.

"En, what did he do to you?" Loki asked, concerned for En's safety.

"He threatened me. He said if I didn't help find the gems, he'd make a deal with Lady Death to lift my death ban. He uh, wanted you, but now he's got you." En admitted, grimacing as his chest started to hurt. The trickster walked to the front of the cell without touching the forcefield.

"You have to let me touch you, En. I know the old you would want me to bring back your memories." Loki pled more with him and En shook his head.

"I don't know if I, um, if I want them back." En spoke softly. Loki furrowed his brows. En couldn't mean that.

"I mean, sure it sounds like I was happy, but.. Thanos is going to take over the universe. It's better not to have anyone to love when he does." En explained and Loki bit his lip.

"Okay, what about Sleipnir? Don't you remember Sleipnir? He's a little kid.. he's my son. You guys made up a secret handshake and played with toy dinosaurs together and everything." Loki was really grasping but En shook his head. "Why did you come down here then? You must feel something."

"I did. When the guard pushed you to the ground, I felt something. I just.. I don't know what to do about it." En replied softly, shaking his head. "I want to believe you, I really do."

"Well, the least you can do for me is not tell Thanos about the baby. Please do that for me. He'll take any weakness you have and destroy you with it." Loki urged and En nodded.

"I won't." En promised as he leaned against the wall. He was truly conflicted. No matter how hard he fought it, he kept feeling butterflies in his stomach when he looked at Loki. Loki was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen.

"I don't want to hurt you. I never have." Loki murmured, wanting so badly to touch him, kiss him, and tell him everything was going to be okay. He hated losing the one person who was closest to him. En didn't say anything in response, guards coming in to take him to the cell next to theirs. Thor walked over to Loki, watching En being escorted to the next cell over from theirs.

"If this is all an elaborate plan of his, I'll kick his ass into the next universe." Thor grumbled and Loki looked over to him.

"I appreciate your concern, but I think his memories are gone.. I don't think he's faking it. Did you see how lost he looked?" Loki questioned and Thor nodded slowly after a moment of thinking about it.

"Look, I know you want to hope for the best, but please prepare just in case you have to let him go." Thor reminded him and Loki shook his head.

"Not this day. Not ever. I'll get my partner back if it's the last thing I do." Loki was adamant on that fact. He sighed and crossed his arms, looking toward the wall. It was then that he heard En's voice once more.

"I know you're pissed, but maybe I could make it up to you?" En called out softly from the other cell. Loki raised an eyebrow, glancing to Thor.

"And how do you plan to do that, love?" Loki inquired, humoring him for the moment.

"Oh... y'know.. we could start over? I could convince the guards to give us a little privacy?" En suggested and Loki straight-up snort-laughed at that.

"You're suggesting we fuck. In front of my brother." Loki facepalmed, feeling his cheeks warming. "Why are you like this?" It was more of a teasing comment than a real question.

"Oh shit!" En exclaimed, rather embarrassed. "I didn't realize he was your brother.. I mean, I guess I did, but I didn't think about it."

"Mhm, normally I would take you up on that, but considering the circumstances, it's probably not a good idea." Loki spoke, trying to be a reasonable person.

"You're literally the most beautiful being I've ever seen. I mean, how could a god like you fall for me? It just doesn't seem right." En started and then paused before speaking again. "You did love me, right?" En murmured, leaning up against the wall of his cell. Loki blushed softly, looking to his brother.

"He's not usually like this, I swear." Loki whispered to Thor, Thor's face still in shock. "Actually... he kind of is." Loki then directed his attention back to En.

"Of course I love you, you tall fucking idiot." Loki replied endearingly. En smiled on his side of the cell, blushing. He felt in his heart that Loki was being sincere, and that made it all hurt more. On the other side of the cell, Thor looked at Loki with a soft and bittersweet smile, afraid that En would ultimately break Loki's heart. His brother had found love and he didn't want Loki to be upset once it went away. The trickster god waited for a reply from En and soon enough he got one.

"I really do wish I could, uh, do something. Thanos is so incredibly powerful, you know. It's going to be impossible to get out of this." En explained and Loki crossed his arms, trying his best to think of a way out.

It was like torture waiting for Thanos to call on them again. Loki had fallen asleep on the floor, causing Thor to pick him up and move him to the bed. During the night, Thor took the floor, letting his brother have the bed. The next morning, Loki woke up feeling nauseous again. He sat up, waiting for the inevitable sickness to come. No sooner had he finished taking care of that when Thanos barged down the hall.

"Trickster! Your time has come!" Thanos' booming voice reverberated off of the metal walls. Thor held Loki's arm, not wanting him to leave. Who knew what Thanos might do to him? The Mad Titan let down the shields and looked at the two brothers.

"You can come willingly, or I will make you." Thanos clarified and Loki nodded, shrugging off Thor's grip and following Thanos. The clear choice was to comply. He walked down the hall with Thanos, getting further and further away from his brother. Thanos brought him to the main compartment of the ship where En was seated, looking at a map of the universe. Loki looked up to Thanos.

"What do you want?" Loki asked softly, not wanting to seem too pushy at the moment.

"En is too weak. You're going to help me find the infinity gems. Then I might just reconsider killing you and your brother." Thanos spoke, motioning for Loki to take a seat beside En. Bingo. The trickster slowly walked over and took a seat with him. "And don't try anything, or I'll have you executed on the spot." That was enough to deter most people from doing anything drastic. Loki looked at the map, not sure even where to start. Thanos left the room, going to do something else. Loki had no idea what, but at least he wouldn't be breathing down his and En's neck. Loki immediately wanted to press his hand to En's forehead and retrieve the memories. He stopped himself from doing it until it looked like they were actually doing what Thanos asked of them. After a few moments, Loki turned to him, not even asking before he pressed his hand against En's warm forehead. When he looked in on the memories, he could see a cloudy fragment, which must have been what En or Thanos had covered. As he tried to fix the memories, his magic fizzled out. Loki's eyes widened and he kept trying until he couldn't anymore. He let go and En looked at him with wild eyes.

"What did you just do to me?" En asked curiously.

"I was trying to fix your memories... I just.. I can't." Loki was devastated. "Only you can fix them. You've got to know a way to reverse it."

"I told you, I want to help, but, uh, I can't. I don't know how to." En frowned and looked to the monitor. "Lets just help Thanos out and keep our heads down." Loki snapped. He basically flew out of his chair, holding En's collar as he looked him in the eyes.

"I can't believe you! You're a damn coward! What happened to 'I'll fight Thanos any day for you, Loki' or 'I'll save you from the one fucking thing you're scared of, Loki?' That was the point in which Loki's voice cracked, his raw emotions coming through. En glared defiantly at him.

"Look, I put up with your shit before, but I told you, I don't want to help you." En clarified, raising his voice as he pushed Loki back, more of a warning shove than anything. Loki frowned, his hands instinctively going to his daggers. He resisted the urge, mainly because he loved En too damn much to hurt him. En took him off guard, pinning him to the wall, his arm bracing Loki's neck. Loki gritted his teeth, looking at En with betrayal in his eyes.

"I don't want to hurt you.." Loki managed to get out before he kicked En back, only half-heartedly. En retaliated and Loki grabbed his arm, pushing him down and pinning him to the ground, straddling his waist as his hands kept En's arms stuck to the ground. "The man I love wouldn't give up."

"I'm not him! I don't know who the hell you're talking about!" En retorted, looking up at Loki. Something about their position felt eerily similar, though completely different.

"Please try to help me." Loki begged him, feeling his hope sinking with each passing moment.

"No. I want to be on the winning side." En shook his head. "Now let me up." From a distance, slow clapping could be heard. Loki's eyes widened as he saw Thanos emerge from the shadows.

"What a turn of events this has been. My trickster and my Grandmaster, entwined in a sick one-sided love affair. When I said no funny business, this is exactly what I meant." The purple Titan spoke gravely. "Fetch me Thor. I want him to see this." Loki felt his heart start to pound in his chest as two guards walked over to him. He got up from where he'd been positioned on En, making a run for it. The guards caught him within a few seconds, and it almost didn't seem fair. They held his arms and brought him back, Loki kicking and struggling to get away.

"En, please! Stop him! You've got to do something!" Loki pled with the Grandmaster, his vision going blurry as he started to panic. Thor was dragged in shortly, and Thanos stood in front of Loki with a sneer on his lips.

"Your tricks have finally caught up with you, trickster!" Thanos cackled and watched Loki squirm. He tried using his magic, but the green sparks fizzled out once more. En was watching from the side, his chest hurting. This time, the pain was from something he couldn't remember. Watching Loki struggle upset him. Thanos picked Loki up and Thor's eyes widened.

"No!!! You'll pay for this, you overgrown coward, son of a-" Thor yelled and the guards shut him up pulling a gag into his mouth from behind.

Loki's eyes widened as he felt the Titan's grip on him tighten, making it harder and harder to breathe. En's fists were clenched, something inside him telling him to fight. He couldn't take his eyes off of Loki and he wanted so badly to do something to stop Thanos. The Mad Titan clenched harder, restricting Loki even further. The god starved for air, feeling his bones ready to snap. His only thoughts now were on the baby. He couldn't save either of them, and it was such a painful thing to know right at the very end. Loki glanced over to En, his hand outstretched to him at his side, closing his eyes because everything was becoming all too painful. The only sounds were Loki's staggered breathing and whimpering, and Thor's muffled screams. Thanos finally clenched harder, putting Loki out of his misery, dropping him onto the floor like a rag doll. That was when En snapped. Memories rushed back to him like a waterfall and tears sprang to his eyes as he screamed out in pure agony. His eyes were glowing golden yellow with power, his whole being sparking with energy as his fingertips curled into the shapes required for harnessing magic. En lifted off of the ground, levitating as the energy in the ship cut off, being absorbed by En. The focus on his face was completely terrifying as he brought his hands together in front of him and directed a huge force of cosmic energy straight at Thanos. If he couldn't kill Thanos, he was going to make him suffer. The energy blasted Thanos right through his ship and into another galaxy. En hoped he'd hit a few objects on the way.

En floated over to his lover, blue magic twinkling around him now as his expression changed into one of utmost sorrow. He knelt by Loki, then pulled the trickster's head gently into his lap, caressing his raven locks as tears flowed down his cheeks. He knew he could bring his prince back to life, but he had only a short amount of time to do that. He closed his eyes, though the golden glow escaped through his lids, concentrating all of his energy into Loki. He placed his hand where Loki's heart would be, resurrecting him, mending all parts of him that were broken. Healing was one of his strong suits. His power had been lacking when Thanos clocked him on the ship, but the force of emotion had allowed him more focus of his powers. En healed Loki, a blue aura surrounding his lover. Loki's eyelids fluttered open, color returning to his face. He was confused for a moment, but that was remedied as En gently pulled him up, kissing him lovingly, like he'd never kissed the trickster before. Loki met En's kiss with equal passion, if not more. No one had ever loved him enough to bring him back to life. It was incredible. Loki gripped En's tattered sweater like it was his lifeline. En's injuries had vanished with the surge of power, and he looked normal as if nothing had happened. Thor was completely speechless, his eyes wide as he had just witnessed power beyond even his own. Neither of them wanted to pull away, but Loki finally did, breathless.

"What about the baby?" Loki's heart pounded, as he was terrified that he'd put not only his life in danger, but the baby's too. The Grandmaster placed his hand over Loki's abdomen, using his powers to see if there was a heartbeat. There was.

"The baby is doing okay. It's strong like you." En smiled a little, able to be happy after all of the turmoil they'd just gone through.

"Can we please go back to Earth?" Loki asked softly, holding onto En for dear life. En nodded and gently helped Loki up, walking over to Thor and placing a hand on Thor's shoulder. The guards had run off, terrified of the Grandmaster.

"Of course." En spoke, slightly out of breath. He was taxed from the immense amount of power he'd just used. He would have to use some more to get them back, but it would be nothing compared to what he'd used before. He teleported them back to Avengers Tower, all of them landing ungracefully in a pile on the floor. Thor rolled over on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Hey, thank you, En. I was really close to killing you, but now I think I'll reconsider." Thor mused and En managed a tired smile, looking over to Loki who had landed on his back beside En. The trickster god smiled lovingly at En, so glad to have him back. The whole thing had been such an ordeal and it was good to be back, alive. Pepper had been standing there looking out the window when they teleported in. She gasped, but then regained her composure when she realized who it was.

"Are you alright?" Pepper asked, an expression of concern on her face as she hurried over. Thor looked over to her and chuckled softly.

"We are now. It is just that this Midgardian floor rug is quite comfy and we are quite exhausted." Thor explained and Loki rolled his eyes playfully. He slowly sat up, helping En to a sitting position as well.

"Bed?" Loki murmured in En's direction and the Grandmaster nodded in reply. The trickster managed to get to a standing position, helping Thor up first before he helped En up. The Grandmaster leaned on Loki for support and they all headed down the hall toward their respective rooms. Thor stopped En and Loki before they could go back into their room, wanting to have a chat with them.

"I know we are all weary from battle, but I did not get the chance to properly tell you thank you. Thank you, En, for saving my brother. He means the world to me, and clearly you mean the world to him." Thor spoke, looking at En with admiration. "What you did back there, it was incredible." It was then that he turned to his brother. "Loki..." Thor gently placed a hand on the side of his neck as he often did as a sign of brotherly love, looking at him with a mix of sadness and gladness. "I watched you die today. I.. I am so glad you are alive and well, brother." It was all he could get out before he pulled Loki into a warm hug. Loki hugged back heartily, glad to be back in the land of the living as well. Once he had pulled away, En spoke up.

"Thank you, lord of, well, what is your proper, um, title?" En asked curiously so he could thank him the right way.

"God of Thunder, but you can call me Thor." The blond smiled happily and nodded to them. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Loki replied sleepily and headed into their room, walking over with En to the bed. En was healed up, but still sore from all of it. Loki could tell, so he helped strip En of his tattered sweater. "I know how much you liked that sweater. I'm sorry it was a casualty." The trickster's gaze fluttered playfully up to En's eyes as he teased. En cracked a small smile, clearly drained from using so much power.

"There are always new sweaters. You know, I was uh, headed out to surprise you. I was going to get some flowers and sparkling grape juice to celebrate when Thanos just snatched me up." En explained and Loki leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips.

"Just having you here is enough. When I saw what he did to you.. I wanted so badly to make him pay. That he would even lay a finger on you.. my skin was crawling with rage." Loki admitted and En caressed Loki's cheek.

"It's all over now. What matters is that you and the baby are okay. I thought I lost you both back there." En spoke softly, his attention to Loki who was unbuckling En's belt, sliding down his khakis that were now torn and ripped as well.

"Thank you for saving me. That was the greatest expression of love you could have possibly shown me." Loki's voice was a nice deep murmur as he opened himself up. "I try not to get all soft like this too often, but you bring out my soft side." Loki cracked a smile and leaned in, pressing another kiss to En's lips. Loki started to pull off his own clothes as well. The leather was quite annoying to shimmy out of at the end of battle, but it looked badass and it was functional in times of war, so he just went with it. En helped him get out of his clothes and Loki looked toward the bed longingly.

"I don't ever want to lose you." En murmured, his gaze still unable to be torn away from the trickster. Loki looked back to him, gently taking his hands and pulling him into their comfy bed.

"And I never want to lose you either. I'd follow you to the ends of the universe and beyond." Loki spoke with affection, laying down with En. The pillows and soft sheets felt so good on their abused bodies. En turned towards Loki, reaching to him and pulling him close, his arms snaking around the trickster protectively. The Grandmaster took in a deep breath, allowing himself to relax. Now that he had the memories of him and Loki back, he kept playing them on repeat. Just that first morning waking up next to the trickster was magical. Seeing Loki's raven hair dance in contrast of the electric blue pillow in the light of Sakaar's star Tayo was one of the small things he first remembered. He remembered looking over Loki's pale skin, seeing absolutely no flaw at all. He could still practically smell Loki's scent of warm woods with a hint of rose. His trickster was perfect in every way to him, and no one could tell him otherwise. Loki felt his stare and he glanced up to him, a coy smirk on his lips.

"What are you thinking about?" Loki inquired. He could always tell when En was lost deep in thought.

"You." En answered truthfully, his lips curling into that sweet yet sly smile of his. Loki rolled his eyes playfully, but he felt his eyelids getting droopy. That night, he dreamt of what they might do from that moment onward. They had both faced Thanos, so Loki could just give the Avengers the Tesseract and he and En could skip out to whatever star system worked for them to start the rest of their lives. In his dreams, he dreamt mostly of En, but also of the baby. He just knew that En would be a great father someday.

Though they both slept for what felt like forever, Loki was the first to wake up. The god laid there, thinking about how lucky he was to have En in his life. The Grandmaster was still sprawled out on the bed, sleeping soundly. He looked so peaceful when he slept, and Loki watched him for a few moments. The trickster was so madly in love, and every time he looked at En, he was reminded of why. Of course there was the physical love he had for En. The man may have been an Elder of the Universe, but he was still so gorgeous. His skin was golden, his lips did that cute smirk thing when he smiled, and most of all, the right look from En's gaze could bring Loki to his knees. Deeper than that was the emotional love that Loki had for En. Ever since arriving on Sakaar, En had never treated him as less than anyone. Yes, at first the Grandmaster wanted him as a play thing, but he still respected him. En always made sure that everything was okay with Loki before he did anything. He was gentle when he needed to be, and rough when Loki wanted it that way. En was loving. That was the most amazing quality about En other than his great sense of humor. En basically worshipped Loki. Loki, being egotistical as he was, loved the attention that En so lovingly rained down upon him. All of those thoughts were running through Loki's mind as he looked at his sleeping partner. He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to En's forehead before sneaking out of the room to get En some breakfast in bed. It was a sweet gesture, and he knew En wouldn't feel like getting up to eat anyway. Loki first found some suitable clothes, then went to work in the kitchen, attempting to make some eggs and bacon. While he was doing all of his preparation, Natasha Romanov walked up to him. She was quiet as a mouse, so he hadn't expected her.

"Thor tells me you've changed." The newly dyed-blond leaned against the counter, watching him cook. Her voice had startled him, but he gained his composure as he turned to face her.

"My goals have changed. I'm the same Loki, I just have a different perspective on how I want to live out my life." Loki explained simply, crossing his arms. "I know I threatened you before.. I'm not going to apologize because you deserved it that time." It had sounded like an apology but it turned into a sarcastic remark. Natasha smiled a little.

"Well, there's the old Loki I was expecting. What made you change?" Nat asked curiously and Loki looked at her with scrutiny.

"Are you trying to psychoanalyze me?" Loki inquired, not knowing if he wanted her to know all of the details.

"Nope, just curious to see why the almighty trickster god suddenly decided to jump on the other side of the war, that's all." She shrugged, looking at him, still wondering if he meant it.

"I'm done trying to take over Earth. There are plenty of other planets to do that to. I just wasn't aware of it." Loki further explained to her, then turned to attend to the eggs momentarily.

"They tell me you're seeing someone." She spoke up and Loki rolled his eyes before turning around again to face her.

"Does everyone have a gossip about Loki session that you attend daily or something?" Loki remarked irritably. "You're worse than Odin's ravens, I swear to the Norns."

"No.. you were just the current topic of conversation. Who's the lucky person?" Nat asked, genuinely curious. "You never seemed like the romantic type."

"Just never had the time for it." Loki replied, shrugging. "His name is En. He's an Elder of the Universe. He's very dorky like a baby duckling, but that's partly why he's perfect." Loki didn't want to ramble, but he was so in love and it was so hard to withhold why he loved En so damn much. Nat couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"You really are in love, aren't you?" Nat asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question. Loki didn't know how to respond to that. Of course he was deeply and hopelessly in love, but he didn't want to pour his heart out to her.

"And if I am?" Loki asked right back.

"Then congratulations." Natasha smiled more, watching him cook the eggs and bacon. When Loki finished up, he put everything onto two plates, setting them on a tray. He'd gotten some orange juice for them both, carrying it back to their room, not saying anything to Nat as he left. He figured that actions spoke louder than words anyway. The god did feel a bit taken aback by how differently he was being treated. It was strange how behaving like a law-abiding citizen was working out for him.

Notes:

Alrighty, so this chapter was quite a bit of a rollercoaster ride. The next chapter will be a lot cuter and fluffier. Stick with me guys! No cliffhanger this time at least! Also, feel free to comment and leave suggestions!

Chapter 9: Time to Ourselves

Summary:

Loki and En have just gotten back from their insane adventure in space, so now they have a little time to just relax and enjoy being a family.

Once Loki had gotten back to the room, he left the tray on the bedside table, then curled up in bed next to En once more to rouse him from his slumber. The god pressed kisses to his cheeks, then to his lips, more slowly. En started to wake up, smiling into the kiss as he kissed back eagerly. He didn't know what was going on, but he liked it very much. Loki tugged at his bottom lip playfully and En purred softly.

"Mmm.. good morning, kitten." En grinned, brushing his fingers through Loki's hair affectionately. He caught a whiff of breakfast in the air and gave Loki a surprised look.

"You cooked breakfast? Wow.. I'm so, uh, so spoiled. Are you sure you're not the, uh... sugar daddy?" En spoke playfully. Loki rolled his eyes playfully.

"Not quite." Loki corrected him and En's eyes then lit up.

"That's right, because I've already beaten you to it. I may have arranged us an um... romantic dinner tomorrow night." En couldn't wait until then to tell Loki. Loki's eyes widened a little and he chuckled.

"No way.. you did? Absolutely no offense meant by this statement, but how did you know how to do that?" Loki asked curiously. En played with a strand of Loki's hair, smiling as he looked at his trickster.

"Stark helped me." En admitted and Loki laughed softly.

"You asked Stark for dating advice?" Loki thought it was endearing, though he definitely wouldn't have asked Stark. Then again, Cap's girlfriend had just passed away, Thor and Jane had broken up, Bruce had flown a jet into outer space away from Natasha, and Clint had a secret family. Loki could totally see why he would go to Stark.

"I did. You're excited, so hopefully he was right?" En searched Loki's eyes for approval and Loki nodded.

"Of course. He was right. I'm sure whatever you've got planned, I'll love it." Loki was always being supportive of En, especially since the Grandmaster was continually spoiling him with love and presents every time he turned around. En nuzzled his neck.

"Good. Today will be relax in bed day." En was still tired from his power drain. Loki caressed his cheek.

"I know it must have taken a lot of energy to get rid of Thanos, whatever you did." Loki murmured and En nodded in response.

"I blasted him with cosmic energy. Lady Death has a ban on him too. It sucks because we can't.. um, kill him until she takes the ban away." Loki pouted softly and then pressed kisses down En's jawline.

"That's not fair." He murmured against En's olive skin.

"I know. I would have ripped him apart on an atomic scale if I could, but I can't." En replied, quite darkly. "To protect you, of course." Loki smiled fondly, meeting his lips and kissing him longingly, not wanting to stop.

"Would you like a little something for a thank you?" Loki waggled his eyebrows playfully at En, giving him all of the hints. En's eyes widened a little and he grinned, nodding.

"You know me so well. Morning sex, then breakfast." En murmured against Loki's lips as the trickster got closer, caressing En's chest as he locked lips with him again. The Grandmaster caressed Loki's muscular thigh, moving his hand up further and further. He knew what made the trickster tick.

After a little while, they finished up, Loki sitting on top of the Grandmaster with a smirk on his lips.

"Satisfied?" En teased playfully.

"Mhm." Loki murmured and brushed his raven hair behind his ear, his cheeks flushed a bright pink.

"I'm starting to love this even more." En commented and Loki raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Loki asked curiously, curling up beside En on the bed once more.

"You being pregnant. Being so hungry for me." En purred into Loki's ear and Loki felt his skin tingle. He knew he was already acting quite impulsive, but as long as En liked it, he could learn to live with it. The smallest breeze could blow through the hall and he'd be aroused. The god smirked and playfully tugged on En's bottom lip with his teeth.

"Mmh, well, it won't last forever, big boy." Loki purred right back, nuzzling En. "Though I doubt I'll ever lose my hunger for you." He smirked against En's skin, staying close to him. "Right now I'm hungry for breakfast. Its going to get cold if we wait too long. C'mon, let's eat." Loki smiled and moved away for a moment to get the tray of food. En smiled as he saw the breakfast Loki had cooked.

"This looks awesome." En complimented him and they curled up, turning on the tv to watch some news while they ate. Loki thought that New York might be in a state of panic since the whole Thanos incident had unfolded. He was very much correct on that assumption, as the main news channel was still going on and on about it. They were afraid that the big purple space alien would take them too. No one knew who En was, so they thought that Thanos was abducting ordinary people of Earth. The news screen flashed to footage of Loki fighting during the New York invasion. He pointed his scepter at a little girl, but held back, watching as one of the Chitauri did what he couldn't do. Loki was merciless when it came to the people of Earth, but it wasn't in him to kill children, especially being a parent himself. The carnage continued, Loki killing innocent men and women without a second thought. Loki chewed his bottom lip nervously, looking over to En to see his reaction. He honestly didn't like watching it himself, so he couldn't imagine what En was thinking. He took a bite of eggs, hoping they would cut to something else.

"If an alien from another planet could kill thousands of civilians in a few days without blinking an eye, what are we to expect?" One of the news anchors posed the question, looking to the guest who was in the other window of the screen.

"I say we need to let the Avengers deal with him. They know what they're doing. They stopped one alien invasion, they can stop another. I tell you what though, if I saw that Loki guy out on the street, I'd kick his ass. 'Kneel before me' my ass. We should'a locked him up for life for what he did, not let Thor take him back to whatever planet he came from." The guest got carried away and the anchor stopped him, cutting him off and letting him go from the broadcast. Loki turned to En, pausing before he spoke again.

"They really don't like me here at all. I can understand why, but at the time, I thought it was a good idea. Everyone makes mistakes." Loki shrugged a little. Grandmaster knew where he was coming from. He himself had taken over a planet and forced people to participate in his games.

"I don't think that kicking your ass would do any good, to be honest." En explained, grinning a little. "You looked so hot... minus the murder of course. My little trickster wanting to rule Terra." En caressed Loki's cheek, then continued eating. "I'm not worried in the slightest. You can uh, kick their asses with magic and see how they like it." Loki raised an eyebrow.

"You think I can't kick their asses without magic?" Loki implored, an amused look on his face.

"Look, I'll beat them for you. That way, you don't have to bother with them." En suggested playfully and Loki nodded.

"That's more like it." Loki replied, finishing up his breakfast as he sipped his orange juice.

"We should go shopping." En suggested and Loki smirked over the brim of his glass.

"Shopping?" Loki was even more amused.

"Mhm. We're using borrowed clothes and I'm absolutely dying from the lack of style here. I'm rich, so I might as well not dress like a peasant." En explained and Loki nodded.

"That's true. I need a proper disguise before we do, however." Loki knew he shouldn't go out in public with everyone on high alert. En's eyes widened and Loki raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Okay, hear me out. I've got an idea. What if I did your makeup? We could pull your hair back and you could just disguise yourself as a woman." En suggested and Loki looked at him with a coy smirk resting on his lips.

"You mean like this?" Loki asked and shape-shifted into a woman. It was super odd for En at first, but he definitely loved it. Loki had long raven hair that was sleek and shiny like an actual raven's wings. His body and face had formed into a more feminine figure, his lips more full than they had been before. Loki smiled at En, seeing the shock on his face. "Do you like that, babe?" Loki toyed with him a little, bringing his slender fingers up to run through En's hair. "I thought you might.."

"Wow. I am absolutely, uh, erm, speechless." En couldn't find the words to express it. "I mean, I knew you could do this, but I hadn't thought about you being able to shape shift into a woman. You're fucking gorgeous, Loki. I love you in all forms." En brought Loki's hand up and pressed a kiss to it. Loki loved the attention he was receiving from En.

"Of course, your idea might work better though, because we're shopping for male Loki clothes. I just wanted to see your reaction." Loki smiled lovingly at him and transformed back. "That and I kind of secretly love the way you like to put makeup on me." Before they could do anything, a small coded knock could be heard on their door. Loki covered them both up, tossing En his underwear. Once they were decently clothed, Loki opened the door and Sleipnir ran in excitedly.

"It's snowing mommy!" He cried out happily. There had been snows in Asgard, but he'd never been in Asgardian child form to see it. Loki was ecstatic when he heard about it too, going over the the window. Loki looked out, seeing the snow covering the buildings and everything else. He turned back to Sleipnir.

"You're right, it's snowing!" The god smiled and walked over to Sleipnir, crouching down to his level.

"Can we go out and play in it pleeeeeeeease?" The small child begged, hoping Loki would give in. Loki turned to En with a soft smile.

"Are you up for building a snowman in Central Park?" Loki asked En curiously, a sparkle in his eyes. Being a frost giant, he loved being out in the cold and playing in the snow. En could see it in his eyes too, so he happily obliged, getting dressed for the cold weather. He couldn't wait to take the family out in the snow. Once they were all dressed, they headed outside the room. Loki saw Thor in the hall and Thor smiled warmly.

"Where are you headed?" He asked curiously, noticing their winter gear on.

"It snowed quite a bit outside, so we're going to go to the park and have a snowball fight. Want to come?" Loki asked, grinning a little. He knew how much fun winters were when he and Thor were children. They would always play in the snow and pelt each other mercilessly with snowballs. Thor's eyes lit up with the invitation and he nodded.

"I'd love to! I have to get my coat!" Thor smiled and hurried back to his room. En smiled over at Loki and Sleipnir giggled.

"Uncle Thor is excited." Sleipnir pointed out and Loki nodded.

"Mhm. He sure is." Loki replied. Soon Thor joined them and they headed out to the park. There were quite a few people out there already, but Loki found them a perfect spot to have some fun in the snow. En knew about snow, but he'd never gotten to play in it before. He smiled brightly, picking up some and looking at it. Sleipnir pointed to En as he called out to Loki.

"Snowball fight!" The child cried out with a huge grin on his face, hurrying to pick up some and hurl it at En. Loki pegged Sleipnir in the back with a little one, not wanting to knock him down or anything. Thor threw one and hit Loki in the back of the head, causing Loki to give him a terrifying 'I'm going to get you for that' look. Thor laughed and ran over, grabbing Sleipnir up into his arms as he got them out of firing range. Loki's fingertips turned blue as he grabbed a bit of snow, looking for his next target. He spotted En and the Grandmaster's eyes widened, his face getting a look of panic mixed with hilarity. He went to run, but Loki had already fired, pelting him in the chest with a snowball. En then molded his own snow into a snowball, throwing one right back. Thor let Sleipnir down to start making a bunch of snowballs. He convinced Sleipnir to help him build a fort so that Loki and En couldn't get to them, so Thor focused on packing a wall of snow up as Sleipnir created an army of snowballs. It was great teamwork, especially since Loki and En were busy throwing snowballs at each other, running as they did so. Loki was tall, but he wasn't nearly as tall as En, so En had the running start. He bolted over behind a tree, kneeling down to make snowballs. Loki chased him and took his own tree, throwing a few rogue snowballs.

"You'll never get away En!" Loki called out to him and laughed. He looked around and couldn't see En anymore, confused. His eyes widened in realization as he felt En's presence behind him. It was too late too stop En.

"Checkmate." The taller male whispered playfully into Loki's ear as he crammed a snowball down into the back of Loki's coat. Loki felt the snow make contact with his skin and his jaw dropped as he wriggled around, trying to get it out.

"Oh, you're so dead for that." Loki spoke teasingly as En turned to run for it. He just wanted to stay for the reaction.

"Only if you can catch me!" The Grandmaster called out to him. Loki ran after him and En even slowed up a little for the trickster to catch up to him. Once Loki caught up to him, En pulled the god close, meeting Loki's lips with his own. He smiled into the kiss, having caught a glimpse of Loki's nose having turned slightly blue from the cold.

"You're not too mad, are you?" En asked softly against Loki's lips, more of a playful question than a real concern. Loki smiled as he felt the warmth of En's lips on his own.

"No, of course not." Loki murmured softly, his arms having snaked around En's waist. He managed to get one arm up to the opening of En's jacket, shoving some payback snow into it. En felt the cold and his eyes widened.

"You, uh, you trickster!" En exclaimed and Loki laughed, running off to join Thor and Sleipnir where their small fort had been built.

"Permission to board? Loki asked with a 'help me' smile, looking to his brother and son for help.

"What's the password?" Thor asked with a shit-eating grin.

"Um... let me see.. the password is that you need to let me in right now before En gets over here and pummels us all in snowballs." Loki spoke with a little less patience.

"Wrong password." Thor stated simply, looking to Sleipnir. "I don't know, what do you think? Should we call a council into meeting to discuss taking in a refugee?" Loki rolled his eyes and hurried behind the barrier they'd created. It wasn't that big, but it was something. Thor frowned playfully. "King Sleipnir, we have an intruder!" Thor notified Sleipnir who appeared to be in charge of the fort.

"Intruder! What have you brought to bargain with?" Sleipnir asked Loki and giggled. Loki thought about it for a moment.

"Hmm... a nice hot cup of hot chocolate when we get back?" Loki suggested and Sleipnir's eyes lit up.

"With marshmallows?" Sleipnir inquired, acting like it would make or break the deal.

"Of course." Loki smiled and then was startled as a snowball whirred over the fort barrier. "Ah! He's here!"

"What shall we do, King Sleip?" Thor looked to Sleipnir for further instructions.

"You two shall guard the palace. I shall keep lookout." Sleipnir was speaking so proper. It was cute. Thor nodded and looked to Loki. He grabbed Loki's arm and they headed out from behind the protection of the barrier. Loki saw En heading their way and he grabbed some snow, hurtling it at En. It missed and Loki tried again to no avail. En threw one back, pegging Loki in the shoulder. The trickster played it up and made it look incredibly dramatic, grabbing his shoulder as he laid down on the ground.

"Avenge me, brother!" Loki spoke, acting like he was dying in the snow. Thor gasped playfully.

"Noooooo!" Thor cried out and hurried toward En, pelting him with two snowballs at once. En raised his hands in surrender.

"I surrender! Long live the King and his peasant!" En called out and Thor pouted playfully.

"I am no peasant." The thunder god remarked and Sleipnir giggled.

"He is Sir Thor of Fortland." Sleipnir explained to En and the Grandmaster nodded.

"Oh, of course. My, uh, apologies, my King." En spoke and knelt down as a salute to Sleipnir. The boy then ran over to En, giving him a huge hug. Loki sat up and smiled as he watched the precious moment. His son was accepting En as a father and he couldn't be happier about it. After he let go, they all worked together to make a snowman. Sleipnir named it Frigga, which made Thor and Loki a little misty-eyed, though they didn't outwardly show it. He didn't have any hair for it, but Sleipnir said that it didn't matter. Thor made the biggest part and Sleipnir made the head, but En had to lift Sleipnir up so he could place it. All in all, it had been one of the better days they'd all had together. They all headed back to Avengers Tower after that, all wet and cold from the snow they'd thrown at each other. When they walked back in and took the elevator up, Vision met them on the other side, offering to take their coats. He had become somewhat like the butler of Avengers Tower, not that he minded too much about it. He liked having a job to do, especially since he didn't really sleep due to the fact that he was not fully human. Loki actually thanked him and handed him their coats, giving him a soft smile. Vision was surprised, but then again, he had never seen Loki as the Avengers first had. He'd just heard the many stories from the Avengers about Loki's attack on New York.

The four of them gathered in the kitchen, seeking out some hot chocolate ingredients. Loki let Thor take over, the god of thunder being more familiar with the kitchen area than Loki himself was. Before too long Thor had found some milk, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. Perfect. Sleipnir tiptoed as he and En gathered around the island in the kitchen, eagerly awaiting their warm drinks as Loki and Thor formed a hot chocolate making assembly line. Once they were done, everyone was quietly sipping hot chocolate in order to warm up. Clint walked into the kitchen to retrieve a snack, smiling a little at Loki's son. It was hard not to smile because Sleipnir reminded him of his own son at home. He passed through and left the room to give them all some privacy. The next person to notice them was Steve. He actually walked over wanting to start a conversation. He hoped it wouldn't be too awkward.

"I remember snow days back in the forties.. Buck and I would go out and have snowball fights. He teased me for wearing newspapers in my shoes, but they kept me warm." Steve mentioned, smiling as he saw Sleipnir looking up at him in awe. They all smiled a little at that, enjoying his reminiscence.

"Thor and I used to have snow wars on Asgard. He would always infiltrate my fort, so I would trick him and take his snowball ammunition." Loki spoke in response and Steve smiled. It was in that moment that Steve realized that Loki was just like them, only a god. He could change, and he definitely was. Tony walked into the kitchen at that moment. When he saw Steve, he pulled him to the side, wanting to talk with him. Steve happily obliged, walking to the hall with him.

"Hey, what's going on?" Steve asked curiously, looking at Tony and hoping it was nothing bad.

"Look, Steve.. we've both been avoiding each other and I was hoping to fix that today." Tony admitted and Steve crossed his arms, almost as if he were putting a wall up between them.

"Yeah?" Steve's attitude had changed since he'd found out it was about their little spat.

"I was wrong to bring Bucky into this. And everything is always about me. Pepper has mentioned that too." Tony spoke softly. Steve knew it had to be hard for him to admit it. "I'm sorry for what I said."

"Apology accepted." Steve responded and was about to go back into the room when Tony caught his arm.

"Steve.. wait." The billionaire sounded desperate. Steve turned to face him once more.

"I really care about you. I know we fight a lot, but that's why we fight. It's because I care too damn much about you." Tony opened himself up and Steve was surprised.

"I'm glad you feel that way." Steve replied and Tony chewed his lip nervously. The soldier had the feeling that Tony wanted something more from him. He just didn't know what to do about it. His thoughts had been quite split on it. Steve definitely wanted to give things a shot, but he didn't want another civil war if they didn't work out.

"I'm going to be really honest with you right now because that's you're main thing. Honesty.. and language." Tony spoke to try and lift the mood. Steve smiled a little. "I love you, Steve. Not just as a friend or a work partner. I really love you." Steve knew it was coming, so he enveloped Tony in a big hug, holding him close. Of course it would depend on how their relationship turned out, but Tony was hopeful.

*********************

After the others had their hot chocolate, everyone gathered on the couch in the main room to watch Christmas movies. A few of the other Avengers were there, including Bruce and Natasha, Wanda and Vision, and Stephen Strange. Loki held back the urge to deck Strange, simply leaning back on the couch as his son sat close to him. The movie Sleipnir had chosen was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and no one had seemed to give any protest to it. En's arm was wrapped around Loki and Sleipnir, but his head was resting on Loki's shoulder. The Grandmaster was still pretty tired, so he ended up falling asleep right there where his head was resting. The trickster god noticed and smiled, curling up with the both of them. Before too long, Loki, En, and Sleipnir were all asleep on the couch. Loki woke up after a while, noticing it was dark outside. He rubbed his eyes and then turned his attention to En, smiling as he nuzzled and kissed him.

"Babe.. you fell asleep.." Loki murmured playfully, pressing kisses to his forehead and then cheeks before meeting his lips. En woke up, kissing Loki back when he woke up enough to know what was going on.

"Mmm.. well so did you, sleeping beauty. I know that look." He grinned against Loki's lips, cuddling him sleepily. "We've got a big day tomorrow, so we might as well get some sleep." Loki then stole another kiss, smiling as he tasted the chocolate on En's lips.

"That's true. I can't wait to see what you've got planned.." Loki murmured and slowly stood up, holding Sleipnir in his arms. "First I'll put the little one to bed and then I'll meet you in the bedroom." En nodded and stood up, stretching before he walked over to Loki and Sleipnir, pressing a kiss to Sleipnir's forehead.

"Goodnight, little one." En murmured and smiled before walking back to the bedroom. Loki smiled warmly at him and carried Sleipnir back to his room. He tucked the boy in and placed his dinosaur stuffed animal in his arms before he said his goodnights to the sleeping boy. Thinking back on the brief time he was with Sleipnir when he was young, he knew he'd made a mistake by leaving him. He'd just been so scared at the time. He was so young himself, basically the equivalent of a teen mom, and he'd been trying to fix another problem he'd created. He didn't want to disappoint Odin and Frigga, so he'd just slipped Sleipnir off to the stables. Knowing his son could shape-shift now made him feel so much worse. He was just a baby. Defenseless. Loki would make it up to him now if he could. He tried to stop dwelling on the past and he went to join En in the bedroom. When he got back to the room, En was seated on the bed with nail polish bottles in his hands.

"Before we go to sleep.. I thought we could do a little bit of nail painting. My manicure is fucked from where Thanos threw me around so damn much." En spoke, examining his nails with a scrunched nose. Loki smiled and sat down on the bed with him, ready for a refresh on his fingernails too. En took off Loki's old nail polish and held his hand. "You seem distracted. What's wrong?" He was just trying to be helpful. Loki sighed, not sure if it was even worth talking about.

"Now that I'm going to have another baby.. I'm just scared that I'll do the same thing I did with Sleipnir." Loki admitted, a sinking feeling inside his chest. En frowned a little, pursing his lips as he picked out the same blue color he had on on his own fingernails for Loki. It would be cute.

"Loki.. I know you'll be a good parent. Seeing you with Sleipnir is enough to know that." En assured him, glancing into Loki's eyes.

"I never told you about Sleipnir. It was.. it's still hard to talk about." Loki admitted before he finally continued. "There was a builder in Asgard. He came up to us and he wanted to build us a wall. He said that in exchange for the wall, he wanted the sun, the moon, and the goddess Freya. The gods didn't want to agree to it, but I suggested we cheat him. That was where things went badly. He did a lot better than I thought.. mainly because he had a stallion that wasn't.. he wasn't a horse." Loki started to tell the story, taking a deep breath. He'd told Thor about this before, but it had been a crying fit and it was so long ago. "I shape shifted into a mare, thinking he would follow me and that I could escape. Right as I shape shifted back into my Asgardian form, he turned back too. He was a shapeshifter, a man with brute strength, and.. he wanted to teach me a lesson for tricking him." En cringed a little, knowing what must have happened then.

"By the time I found out I was pregnant, I'd been back in Asgard for a few weeks. I left after that and went into the wilderness, not sure what to do. The baby seemed normal throughout the pregnancy, but when he was born, he transfigured into a colt while laying in the makeshift crib I'd conjured up. The bastard must have cursed the child. So to avoid everyone making a mockery of me or stoning me for bestiality, which I didn't do, mind you, I slipped him off to the stables and never went back. I really did love him, but I was only thinking of myself." Loki explained himself, trying not to get too upset. En was painting his left hand, holding it in a loving manner.

"I know that must be a painful memory, but I'm glad that you told me. I love you no matter what, and I'll never leave you. I wouldn't dare treat you like that less-than-a-man beast. Don't you ever think you did the wrong thing. Sleipnir was safe there.. he's with us now and that's all that matters." En told him, smiling softly now as he touched Loki's chin, lifting his head up to look into En's eyes. "Now perk up. We're going to have an adorable baby and we'll all be one big happy family, Sleipnir included."

"That's true. This time it'll be different." Loki spoke positively and En smiled.

"There you go. Think positively. Ooh! Also, I heard Stark say something about, um.. I forgot what it's called... ooh, Christmas! Earthlings celebrate being together and they give each other gifts. It's the Christmas season!" En sounded so excited as he polished Loki's nails. The trickster god raised an eyebrow.

"How will they have Christmas if Odin is not alive? He's the one who delivers presents." Loki responded to En's surprise.

"He said something about this guy... uh, Santa, bringing the children gifts." The taller male smiled and looked at Loki. "There's also a thing where you kiss under the mistletoe." En mentioned and pulled out a sprig of mistletoe.

"Where'd you get that?" Loki asked as his eyes widened, mainly out of shock and amusement.

"I took it out of the hall. Don't worry, I'll put it back." En spoke with a smile and put it over his and Loki's head, leaning in to steal a longing kiss from Loki. Loki kissed back eagerly, wanting to make out with him, but not wanting to mess up his nails. The trickster god smiled into the kiss and En gently pulled away. He finished up Loki's nails, then did his own quickly and with expertise.

"Our date is tomorrow." En reminded him and grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "Wanda, Thor, and Clint said they would help you get ready. They wanted to pamper you or something like that." Loki raised an eyebrow.

"They do?" Loki was curious now.

"Well, they wanted to make sure our date went well, I think. Tony, Steve, and Bruce are helping me." En explained, laying back in bed, making sure his nails were untouched by the sheets as he slid his head back against the pillow. Loki thought about it and smiled a little, thinking that maybe the Avengers finally understood that he was not there to cause trouble. He couldn't get it out of his head. Once En's nails had dried, they cuddled up in each other's arms. Loki knew he'd never be the big spoon, and he was okay with that. He loved having En curled around him, nuzzling his neck. En would even purr into his ear sometimes just to get him riled up. The god smirked as he felt En press against him, knowing En was aroused immediately.

"En..." Loki softly whined in protest. The other male playfully nipped at his ear.

"Oh come on. You're a god. One less hour of sleep will harm you no less." En murmured into his ear and kissed down his neck. Loki couldn't say no. He never could say no to that man.

Notes:

The next chapter is the date! So much cuteness. You all will love it! As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated. Love to all!

Chapter 10: Matchmaker

Per their usual arrangement, Loki and En laid limbs intertwined together in bed the next morning. En woke up, trailing his fingertips over the small of Loki's back sleepily. He started drawing patterns on Loki's bare back, then his hand traveled down, grabbing Loki's ass playfully. Loki awoke to an interesting sensation, turning to En with almost a giggle.

"Good morning." Loki murmured and pressed a kiss to En's lips.

It was a deep kiss, one that was like pure honey. Loki's eyelids fluttered shut as he allowed himself to feel the sensation of En fighting for dominance in the kiss. He let En win out after feigning protest, melting into it. En brushed his thumb over Loki's cheekbone, tugging on Loki's bottom lip with his teeth just enough to tease him before slowly pulling away.

"How is my gorgeous reindeer this morning?" En asked Loki, teasing a little. "Did the hour of sleep affect you any?" It was more of an 'I told you so' thing more than anything. Loki rolled his eyes. "You're definitely in a good mood."

"Of course I am." Loki murmured softly, his raven locks fanned out behind him on the pillow. "So today is the big day, you hopeless romantic."

"It is. You're going to love it. Our plans aren't until the, uh, evening, but I know you're going to enjoy it." En explained, caressing Loki's cheek. "Until then, we're going to get ready and apparently get taught what to do and what not to do on this date."

"So etiquette school for non-earthlings?" Loki rolled his eyes playfully. "Oh come on. I'm a prince. I was taught to be proper to people on dates." En chuckled, shaking his head.

"That may be so, but just let them do it. It'll be fun. They say they've got an outfit picked out for you and everything." En let that slip to hopefully intrigue him more to the idea.

The truth was, En needed some time to be taught how to do this. He was completely lost. En hadn't dated anyone in as long as he could remember, so he was a little rusty. All he wanted to do was make the date perfect for Loki, so he planned to get tips from Tony, Steve, and Bruce, and send Loki off to Thor, Wanda, and Clint. Hopefully it would be easy. Loki smiled.

"I know you want this to be perfect. I just want you to know that no matter what you do, it will be." Loki assured him and caressed his cheek. En gave him that cheeky little smirk, flashing his pearly whites, and Loki leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I'm starving. I'm going to get some food.." Loki mused and slowly sat up, looking around for his clothes.

"I wouldn't advise you to go naked. Smart choice." En pointed out teasingly and Loki tossed a pillow at him before grabbing his clothes. He needed a shower, but food was going to be first on the agenda. He headed to the kitchen, looking around for something quick. Fruit would be good. He grabbed a banana for himself and then a pear for En, heading back to the room. Once he'd come back, En was sitting on the edge of the bed, still fully nude. Loki blushed slightly and walked over, handing him the pear. He had already peeled the banana and was eating it as En accepted the pear.

"Thank you darling. Very thoughtful of you." En grinned and Loki gave him a funny look.

"I swear to the Norns if you say anything naughty about this banana, I'll choke you with it." Loki spoke playfully, giving him a playful glare, watching the other man's facial expression grow playful too.

"I wasn't going to. If you, um, wanted a banana for breakfast, all you had to do was ask." En let the joke out anyway and Loki playfully acted like he was choking En from afar.

"I need good food. The baby appreciates it a lot more than I do." Loki explained and walked over, dropping his clothes once more. "I need a shower. You can join if you want.." The trickster walked back over and linked his arms around En's neck.

"I'll let you have your shower. I don't want to tire you out before tonight." En replied with a grin the size of the planet on his face.

"By Odin's beard.. you seriously underestimate what it takes to tire me out." Loki rolled his eyes and unlinked his arms, heading to the shower.

Once they were both showered, at separate times of course, they both put on some temporary clothes. En led Loki to his designated group of Avengers and he went to his own after kissing Loki goodbye. Thor greeted Loki with a warm hug. Wanda and Clint just kind of waved awkwardly.

"Hello brother! En asked us to get you ready for your date tonight. I want it to be perfect for you two, so of course I said yes!" Thor announced and Loki nodded.

"Thank you. It's very kind of you." Loki smiled happily and Thor pulled out a bag that presumably had an outfit for the night in it.

"This is what we're leading up to. First we're going to teach you a few dating tips and tricks and then we'll get you into the outfit and send you on your way. The tips and tricks will take a while.. and then there's lunch, so.." Thor explained and Loki looked to Clint and Wanda.

"Alright, so.. what are some tips and tricks to this?" Loki was eager to learn.

"The main thing is to be yourself." Wanda started. "When he asks you things, don't lie. I know you're the god of lies. This is why I say this."

"And don't get drunk on the date either. Personal experience on that one." Clint added and frowned.

"So we've set up kind of a mock date thing so that you can practice. I'll be En, and you be you." Thor spoke and Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Won't that be a little... odd? Considering that you're my brother and a person I would not want to date?" Loki pointed out and Thor shrugged.

"Alright, then Clint can step in as En." Thor suggested and Clint walked over, taking a seat across from Loki.

"So what all does En know about you? Are you guys familiar with each other or is this like.. uh.. something else?" Clint asked curiously and Loki chuckled.

"Oh.. yeah he knows a lot about me. We're pretty close." Loki explained and Clint smiled.

"Good, then there's no way you could possibly fuck this up." Clint clapped his hands together. He was still really upset about the whole mind control thing, but seeing Loki change had helped his mindset.

**************************

Meanwhile in Stark's workshop, Tony, Bruce, Steve and En were all coming up with a game plan for the date.

"Alright, En, you have to get him some flowers. Red roses are perfect unless he has a certain flower he loves more than that." Tony started out, thinking of the most romantic of dates. "You've got reservations at the most romantic restaurant in New York. Check. Flowers are next. For the next thing, you need to get some aged wine at the restaurant." Tony added and En looked lost. "Look, I'll just write it down so you can memorize what it is, okay? It's an alcoholic beverage."

"Oh..." En replied. He felt a little silly after Tony said it like that. "Loki can't drink though.." En pointed out, then realized he'd slipped and said something he shouldn't have. He couldn't let them know Loki was pregnant.

"Why not?" Tony asked curiously and En shook his head.

"No, I meant he um, he doesn't drink." En tried to cover up his mistake.

"Doesn't drink? I saw him drinking on Sakaar with you.. I remember seeing you two drinking space cocktails." Bruce pointed out and En shrugged.

"He must not like the alcohol here on Terra.. I mean, earth." En tried to save it once more and thankfully they dropped the subject.

"Okay.. so the main thing is impressing Loki. He's secretly a diva and he loves attention. Especially from you, I'm noticing. Make sure your attention is on him. Compliment his looks and ask him how he is. Take interest in everything about him." Tony advised him and Steve nodded.

"That's true. In New York, he made a big show of everything. Now all he wants is you, apparently." Steve spoke to En and the Grandmaster blushed slightly.

"Alright, got it. Flowers, compliments... what else?" En asked curiously, seated in the chair. Tony asked him to sit in the chair because he noticed how tall En was. It made him feel quite short to look up that far. Of course, Tony had told him that it was because he wanted En to be comfortable.

"Ooh. Okay, so make sure you are a gentleman. Pull out the chair.. give him your coat if he's cold." Steve pointed out and Tony rolled his eyes playfully.

"Yeah, that. And if you want this to end in sex, you have to be smooth. No awkwardness allowed." Tony reminded him and En nodded.

"That'll be impossible, but sure." En chuckled and he was met with a face-palm from Tony. Bruce leaned up against the workbench.

"Just be yourself. That's who Loki started liking on Sakaar, right?" Bruce asked and En nodded. Both Steve and Bruce's suggestions made Tony want to vomit.

"Right, so for dinner you've got the manners down. After dinner, what are your plans?" Tony asked and En smiled.

"I'm going to take Loki to the Highline and walk the gardens with him, and then we'll come back here." En explained to him and Tony nodded.

"Right. Highline is a perfect place to lend your jacket to him. Wear extra layers so that you don't get cold either. That's a beautiful place. As for when you get back, are you planning to uh.. bang?" Tony asked rather bluntly. En grinned a little and Tony grinned too. "Alright, so tips for that. I'll get the room ready. Rose petals on the bed.. candles lit.. a little AC/DC in the background." Tony elaborated and Steve scoffed.

"AC/DC? No. Not that music." The captain shook his head.

"Look, I've got the music covered." En assured them with a smile. Tony nodded and clapped a hand on his back.

"Alright, let's get you handsome." Tony grinned.

*********************

A bit of time had passed and Thor was getting Loki dressed for the night. Thor gave Loki a green button up shirt, letting him put it on. He helped button it up, smiling. He glanced to Loki's stomach.

"It's crazy.. I've never seen you pregnant before." Thor commented, motioning to him. "I mean, you're not any different yet, it's just amazing to me." Loki raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced down at his stomach.

"I won't be showing here for a while, at least I don't think so, so don't get too excited." Loki teased playfully and Thor chuckled.

"I'm just excited because my nephew or niece is in there. I can't wait to meet them." Thor smiled happily and Loki did too.

"I'm starting to like having a friendship with you." Loki spoke, chuckling a little. "It's weird."

"Weird is good though, right? It's almost as if behaving yourself allows you to have a closer relationship with me." Thor spoke, a bit of sass in his tone.

"Yes, well, don't get used to it. I'm only behaving for the baby." Loki pointed out, trying to keep up his tough villain facade.

"And En, obviously. Before you found out about this, you were behaving yourself." Thor countered and shrugged. "Everyone seems to be getting used to the idea that you've changed."

"The secret plan is to raise the baby to be as powerful as both of us combined so that we can rule all the universe." Loki teased playfully and Thor rolled his eyes.

"Always the jester. Alright, let me tie this bow tie around your neck." Thor added and started to tie it for him.

"Steve said you should wear black suspenders because they're classy, so that's what we are going to do." Once the tie was on and the suspenders were hooked to the sleek black pants, Thor looked at his hair. "For your hair, just put a little bit of mousse in it or something. Not all of that greasy stuff. Don't slick it back. You've got nice wavy hair." It was cute to see Thor so concerned with his brother's hair. He was fussy more for the fact that he wanted Loki to be happy.

When the trickster stepped out into the main room to meet his other half, he was surprised. En stood before him, looking sharp in a white button up shirt and a black tie, paired with black pants, shoes, and a black leather jacket that made him look like a bad boy. Loki absolutely loved it. His hair was slicked back, giving him a modern Earthling look and he was holding a bouquet of roses. Loki couldn't hide the grin that threatened to spread across his lips.

"You look-" Loki started but noticed En was speaking at the same time. En chuckled softly.

"I was going to say, you look amazing." En loved Loki's look, but Loki could wear a potato sack and he'd still love him.

"I was too." Loki blushed a little, looking down as he put his hands in his pockets. Thor was going to babysit Sleipnir while they went on their date. En walked over to Loki and handed him the flowers.

"Wow.. you.. you really outdid yourself. I'm so impressed already." Loki murmured, looking up at him with a slight twinkle in his eyes. Tony grinned from afar, seeing how impressed the trickster was with their apprentice of romance. En offered Loki his arm like a gentleman and Thor took the bouquet of roses so he could put them in some water while they went to the restaurant. As Loki linked his arm with En's, they walked to the elevator, taking it down to the bottom floor. A taxi was waiting and En held the door for Loki, letting the trickster in first.

When they'd arrived at the restaurant, a hostess took them back to a dimly lit table, candles waiting. Wine glasses were there, but En knew they wouldn't need them. He pulled out the chair for Loki and the god smiled a little more.

"What a gentleman..." Loki commented and scooted in as he sat down. En took the seat across from him and a waiter approached them to ask if they wanted wine and to give them breadsticks. En politely declined the wine and they ordered some other drinks that were non-alcoholic. En couldn't stop staring at Loki with his eyes in a dreamy state. It was like he was drinking in the appearance of his companion.

"How did I get so lucky?" En mused softly, a soft smile gracing his lips.

"How did I get so lucky?" Loki asked as a counterpoint to the question.

"Well, they say that lovers don't just fall out of the sky, but you kind of did." En pointed out, chuckling.

"It hurt, but it was definitely worth it.." Loki answered, looking into En's eyes just as much as En was looking into his.

"We haven't really gotten to talk, uh, about the baby yet." En stated out of nowhere. Loki blushed softly and nodded.

"I suppose we haven't. I am absolutely thrilled about this. Very nervous, however. What do you hope it'll be?" Loki asked curiously and En shrugged.

"I want to say a boy, but because we already have a little boy, lets say a little girl." En spoke theoretically.

"And if it's twins?" Loki suggested, a playful look on his face.

"Then heaven help us all." En teased and Loki laughed softly.

"I just have one request." Loki spoke, glancing to the table and his hands, then back into En's eyes. He thought it was a quite simple request. En nodded as if saying to go on with his question. "If it is a girl, I wish to name her Frigga after my adoptive mother. She was a very brave woman. One of the kindest I knew." He spoke of her in the past tense, so En got the hint that she had passed away. En took Loki's hand as a sign of support and brought it up, pressing a kiss to it.

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way." The Grandmaster wouldn't dare deny him the one thing he'd asked for thus far. It was a powerful show of love and he loved the idea of Loki honoring his mother through the name of their baby.

"I can't wait to see our baby. I know it has only been a few weeks, but it seems like a lifetime." Loki murmured, gently playing with En's hand.

"I can't wait either. They'll grow up to be just like you, I hope." En complimented him and the baby at the same time.

"Like me? More like you.. the patient one. The one who loves unconditionally and who has seen me for who I really am." Loki suggested and En shook his head.

"Loki, I have said this before, and I am sure I shall say it a million times more. You are, uh, the most beautiful creature in the universe. Inside and out. I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true. Underneath all of the rage and destruction that you strive to create lies a heart that is fighting for a cause. When you care, you care deeply. That's why finding out you were adopted scared you. You cared so much for your family and then it was suddenly violently ripped away from you." En explained and Loki started shutting himself off from the conversation.

"You're reading my mind again." He spoke, rather frustrated. "Those memories are painful. I choose not the remember them for a reason. Seeing Thor every day, its like being reminded that I'm not him. I'm not a hero who comes to save the day and is adored." He tried to explain to En, but En just shook his head.

"Babe, you're more than that to me. Heroes are overrated." En replied, reaching up to caress Loki's cheek. "I want you. Not your brother."

"But had he fallen and you'd found him, would you have done the same? Would you have fucked him too?" Loki asked, rather pissed that the conversation was going this way.

"But I picked you! This has nothing to do with that." En frowned. Loki sighed softly.

"Back on Sakaar.. you called him your 'seductive lord of thunder'. So would you have?" Loki asked once more.

"I mean.. maybe, but only because I wouldn't have known about you. You're the one I want for the rest of my immortal life. Not him." En explained to him, trying to assure him.

"I... I'm sorry.. I just.. I don't know why I asked you that. Everyone picks Thor over me.. and I know better than to accuse you of anything. I just thought that you might regret being with me because now you know about him." Loki frowned a little more.

"No. Never. I love you, Loki. I want to have kids and move away to some, um, wonderful planet to rule with you." En smiled a little, bringing in Loki for a soft but passionate kiss. Loki's doubt vanished with that one simple statement. He knew he'd found the right one. It was such an unusual feeling to him that someone loved him so fully and unconditionally. The waiter cleared his throat gently and Loki blushed, pulling away gently. The waiter smiled a little and put the breadsticks and drinks on the table. As he was taking their order, he noticed Loki. The waiter frowned a little. He knew it was the man who'd tried to take over New York, but he hoped he was wrong. He took their orders and headed back to the computer to put it in, leaving them alone for the time being. Loki looked to En, an eyebrow raised.

"Do you think he knows who I am?" Loki asked curiously, hoping he was just being paranoid. He didn't know what to think. En glanced away toward the direction that the waiter left.

"Either way, nothing will come of it." En assured him, trying to make him feel better. They thought nothing of it, especially when he brought the plates of food back and gave them a friendly smile, leaving them to themselves once more.

"So.. back to talking about our future.. where would you like to live? What planet do you think would be best?" Loki asked curiously.

"I've actually done quite a lot of thinking on this. Most planets if not already devoured by Galactus, or have minor, if not major problems. Whether it be, uh, war, famine, viruses, they all have extreme issues and flaws. I thought about Xandar, but we wouldn't be able to rule with the Nova Corps in place." He started, trying to explain the situation. "Then I thought maybe Hala or Krelar because they're a bit technologically advanced, but Ronan came from there so.."

"So then what does that leave?" Loki asked curiously.

"Well, if you don't want to live on a volcanic or frozen planet or moon, it leaves Terra and Sakaar." En was about to get to the important part.

"Sakaar was planning to overthrow you. Earth is already at war within itself." Loki brought up, chewing his bottom lip nervously.

"Ego was nice until the Guardians blew it up. I mean, the guy was the planet, but it was beautiful while it lasted. So here's my proposition." En mused and Loki nodded, as if to urge him on. "I can create a planet. Just for us. Sure we'd have to advance it ourselves, but with my control over matter, the possibilities are endless. I'm a little rusty, but I'm sure I could make a planet with some oxygen, water, and natural resources. And hey! That could be uh, a place for the Asgardian people. I could make like a second Asgard." En explained and Loki's eyes widened a little. He felt like crying.

"You don't even know how much that means to me.." Loki murmured and En smiled, reaching out to caress his cheek.

"I'll need your help to make everything as it was before. I'm sure as a team we can rebuild Asgard." En spoke softly, now holding Loki's hands in his own.

"We can name it... Dagny. It stands for 'a new day' in Norse." Loki added, smiling brightly. "You're brilliant En. Extremely brilliant."

"Oh, but don't tell Thor of my plans. I want to make it perfect and let it be a surprise. I can put it above the celestial plane so that I can place it relatively close to where Earth would be located behind the frost line. That way it will be inhabitable and close-by when Thor needs to get home quickly." En was so excited for this and Loki could tell.

"He would be the King, but I'm sure that it would leave us set for life if we were to create an entirely new Asgard." Loki murmured, not believing what he was hearing. He leaned in and kissed En hard, longingly. This meant so much to him. He knew that the moment he stepped one foot on Dagny, he would cry. En kissed back, grinning softly into the kiss. The trickster then slowly pulled away. "How long would it take?" Loki inquired.

"Not too long. Before the baby is born, for sure." En explained, then started to eat. They'd both totally forgotten about the food because they'd been talking about their new plan. When they'd finished their meal, En paid and they left, heading for the Highline. The Elder didn't tell Loki where they were going, so when they ended up at the Highline that was lit up for Christmas, Loki was extremely surprised. He smiled widely and cuddled up to En as they walked together slowly through the beautiful gardens. En's arm was snaked around Loki's waist, the trickster's hands shoved in his pockets. He wasn't too cold, but he could tell that En was. Sakaar had somewhat of a more warm climate, so he could see why his lover was so cold. After a moment of walking, Loki stopped him, turning to face him. He leaned up and kissed him, wrapping his arms around En's neck. He was so in love. Every time he kissed En, he fell more in love with him. After they finished their walk, they walked back to the tower. Loki followed En to their room and En stopped him as they got to the door, opening the door for him. Sure enough, there were rose petals scattered on the floor in a trail to the bed and candles lit everywhere. The music En requested was on an iPod, in a docking station that rested on the dresser. En watched Loki's face as the trickster put his hands up to his mouth in shock.

"Oh my gods... wow. You're.. I.. you didn't have to do all of this for me." Loki was speechless. He couldn't even form a correct sentence.

"But I wanted to." En smiled and closed the door behind them, taking Loki's hands as they drifted over towards the bed. The god knew what was about to happen and he was more than ready for it. En hit play on his eighties song playlist that Tony made for him, grinning as he pulled Loki close once more. The trickster leaned in and En playfully snapped his suspenders. "These are cute." He murmured against Loki's lips. Loki smiled and kissed En hard with a passion that didn't have to be contained now that they were out of the public eye. En's fingertips caressed at Loki's waist, untucking his shirt as he eagerly went to town unbuttoning Loki's button up. Loki had already thrown off his tie, pushing En's leather jacket back off of his shoulders. En pushed Loki back on the bed, the god looking up at him with pure admiration in his eyes. Once they had finished, clothes were strewn all over the floor, only the sheets there to bathe their naked bodies. It was such a rush. One that Loki would never get over.

*******************************

It was the Mad Titan's ship. Star system: The Sun. Nearest planet: Earth. En found himself locked in the same cell again. He was so confused. How did he get there? What happened? That was when two of Thanos' guards came to retrieve him. He was dragged out of his cell, more willingly than not because he dreaded the consequence of not following instructions. When he was pulled into the main room, he found a sight he wished he would never have had to see. The first thing he saw was Thanos. The guy was huge, so how could one's eyes not be drawn to him? The next thing he saw was Loki. Loki was chained up, his wrists in magical cuffs that were chained to the wall. His ankles were in shackles and he looked noticeably pregnant. En's eyes widened, his heart pounding.

"Let him go!" En cried out, struggling against the grip of the guards. Thanos looked from En back to Loki.

"I didn't know you wanted kids, Gast. See, the problem here is that your race must die. You've proven that your race is of no use to the universe. Asgard died, and I want the last Asgardian dead with it." Thanos spoke, lighting up many warning signs in En's mind.

"The Asgardians live! You are a lying, murderous, sufferable piece of-" En retorted and was interrupted by a slap to the face by a guard.

"It took no time to hunt them all down. I tracked them to Terra and ended that precious god of thunder with them. Now the only ones left are Loki and this abomination within him." Thanos explained and En's eyes welled up with tears. This all had to be a terrible nightmare.

"N..no... NO!" En cried out once more in defiance. Loki struggled against the chains, his cries muffled by... stitches? His lips had been sewn shut to prevent him from speaking. En struggled hard against the guards, feeling power surging through his every vein.

"The Guardians stole my daughter from me. Now I'm going to steal your child from you as recompense." Thanos explained and En managed to break free, heading straight for Thanos. The Mad Titan met him with a blast of the Infinity guantlet, full of the Infinity gems. His eyes widened and he felt a surge of dread as he screamed, waking up from his nightmare. He was covered in sweat, a concerned Loki awake and stroking his arm.

"It was just a nightmare.. it's okay. I promise." Loki murmured and En shook his head, getting up out of bed.

"No... its not!" En frowned, throwing on some underwear and a robe, heading for the door in a mad rush.

"What the hell are you doing? It's four in the morning.." Loki asked, scared to know what was going through En's mind. His heart pounded as he saw the panic on En's face.

"Warning the Avengers." En replied shortly as he exited their room, slamming the door behind him. Loki's heart pounded in his chest, his mind going to the worst thing that could possibly happen. He must have seen their destruction. The world's destruction at the hand of the one being who could possibly possess enough power to do so. The Mad Titan himself, the one and the only Thanos, destroyer of the universe.

Notes:

You know me, I can never just let them be happy. I threw a little angst thrown in there at the end, so its up to you to decide whether or not En's vision will come true or not. As always, feel free to comment or leave kudos! Thank you for reading!

Chapter 11: Waiting Game

"Wait... so you're telling me that when you, Thor, and Loki defeated Thanos, you just threw him out into the galaxy? And you're saying that he's coming back to kill the Asgardians and Thor?" Steve asked, confused as to why he would think that.

"You have to do something, um, immediately. I know this is all because of a dream, but he's going to kill them all, maybe the earthlings too. He's going to capture Loki.." En was almost hysterical, which wasn't normal for him. Steve knew it must have had to hold meaning.

"I foresaw the destruction of Ego. I can see into the future, I just can't alter reality. It's because I am one with the planets. When something or someone is in danger on a planetary scale, it comes to me." En added and Steve nodded, taking him seriously.

"So when is Thanos supposed to be here? You didn't happen to notice any indicator of time, did you?" Steve asked, his arms crossed.

"The part in my dream was a few months from now. He said he'd destroyed the Asgardian race on Earth, and he also had all of the infinity stones." En explained and Steve blanched.

"All of the control in the universe in the hands of one man who wants to make it his own." Steve mused and looked to En. "How many months? Do you know?" En rubbed the back of his neck, deciding he needed to make it known how important this all was.

"Six, maybe seven. The reason I know this is because Loki is pregnant. We just found out about it.. so I could tell in the vision because he was farther along in the pregnancy." En explained, feeling awful that he had to disclose it without Loki's consent. Steve's eyes widened.

"Loki's pregnant? How?" Steve was shocked.

"It's complicated. It has to do with the makeup of his genes and his shape shifting. I don't fully know myself, but I know he's pregnant. I can't let Thanos get to him. I'll do anything I can to help you stop this." En elaborated and Steve nodded.

"Of course." Steve replied softly, leaning on the conference table. "Are you the father?" Cap asked out of curiosity. En nodded and Cap gave him a bittersweet smile. "I would do anything for my kid if I had one too."

"Thank you." En then paused, not knowing if he should tell the Avengers about the Tesseract. "There's one more thing. You have to pardon Loki for this because it's mostly a misunderstanding."

"What is it?" Steve asked, his eyebrow raised.

"When Asgard was destroyed, he took the Tesseract so that it wouldn't just be floating out in space for Thanos to grab. He didn't take it to use it, just to keep it away from that crazy guy. He has it. I told him to give it to the Avengers, but he seems to think that bargaining with Thanos to save the Asgardians and Earthlings is a good idea." En told him everything, not sure what Cap would do. Steve's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"That's basically a homing beacon! Thanos can feel the energy from galaxies away!" Steve was enraged, but mainly because they should have told the Avengers sooner. "We have to get that thing far away from here. Maybe Dr. Strange could help. Maybe put it into an infinite loop or something." Neither had noticed Loki standing by the doorframe. He didn't look pleased at all.

"So you told him, did you?" Loki asked, looking at En with a frown on his face. "You told him everything. We have this under control."

"Loki, if we don't stop Thanos, he's going to capture us both.. he's going to kill your brother and the Asgardians." En explained to him and Loki walked over to him. "I can't lose you. Not again."

"Then we fight. If we only have a few months, we make the most of it while he doesn't yet have all of the gems." Loki spoke and Steve shook his head.

"Permission denied, Laufeyson. You can't fight while pregnant." Steve ordered him and Loki crossed his arms.

"I'm not porcelain. I am a frost giant. Our baby is going to be a full god when it is born." Loki protested and En placed a hand on his arm.

"Please, kitten, just give them the Tesseract and stay out of danger." En pled with him and Loki frowned. He wanted so desperately to argue, but he didn't want to upset En any further.

"Not until they have a good plan for it. If Doctor Strange can put it out of commission forever, that's what I want." Loki pointed out and En nodded in agreement.

"I promise you, if I didn't think this was life and death, I wouldn't have told him anything." En spoke to Loki, looking into his boyfriend's eyes to show that he was being truthful. Loki still felt a bit betrayed but he knew he would have done the same thing if it were the other way around. In the meantime, he stayed relatively quiet.

"So are we to alert the others?" Loki asked Steve and Steve nodded.

"That would be preferable. Is it alright that they know you're.. uh.. with child?" Steve asked awkwardly and Loki sighed softly.

"It's already out now, so.." Loki spoke, somewhat in a bad mood now that his plans weren't completely in his hands. En moved over close to him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"I will not lose you. You are my everything, Loki. You told me before that the Avengers could deal with it." En mentioned and Loki glanced away, knowing he'd said that before.

"I'm not angry. I just didn't want everything to come out this way." Loki added, leaning into En's touch.

"We have to alert the others. There is no time to waste." Steve spoke and he pressed the alert button to wake up all of the other Avengers.

"Now for the embarrassing press conference." Loki murmured and En kept him close as everyone went toward the main meeting room.

By the time they got there, most of the others were there. Thor was dragging up the rear, but he was there no less. As Steve began to tell the Avengers what the problem was, he could see the look of concern growing on their faces.

"So let me get this straight. Loki got knocked up by the slavemaster, and he was selfish enough to bring the cube back here knowing that?" Bruce retorted, having had enough of Loki's shit over the years.

"I didn't know I was pregnant until we arrived here." Loki spoke, quite frustrated with the way Bruce worded his question. "Had I known that, I would have thought of a better plan. I'm not just thinking of myself, you know."

"That would be a first." Bruce responded and Loki shot a glare at him. En took Loki's hand as they stood before the Avengers.

"Regardless, we need to stop Thanos. We are all in danger. Thor and the Asgardians are in danger the most currently so Loki and I are focusing on a plan for that first." En explained and Tony nodded.

"What if we can't stop him?" The philanthropist asked, nervous about going into space again.

"He doesn't have all six gems yet. Let that be an assurance to you." Loki reminded them all.

"Besides, many of us possess other-worldly power." Wanda added to the conversation. The elevator beeped and Dr. Strange stepped into the room.

"I already have a plan. If we put the Tesseract into an infinite loop of time, it'll be like it doesn't exist. It can teleport users and change planets, so it would be an advantage to do that. I can do it." Stephen explained, looking to Loki and En. "But I'll need it in my possession to do that first."

Loki conjured the cube up with a simple magical twist of his fingertips. He smiled a little, handing it off to Dr. Strange.

"I would say be careful, but you probably already know that." Loki murmured.

************************

While the Avengers worked on finding Thanos and preventing him from getting the rest of the gems, Loki and En secretly prepared the other world. It would be cloaked from intruders, especially since Thanos was on his way. En had teleported them into space, looking for the perfect space to place it. He waved his hands and stray matter from across the Galaxy flew into one spot, creating the core of the planet.

"This is where I'll need your help." En reminded him and Loki nodded. They both teleported to the barren surface. It still had a lot of work to be done. Loki looked to the left.

"The waterfalls.. they were on each side. Mountains that were craggy but also beautifully snowcapped to the east." The trickster god closed his eyes and imagined Asgard. Fields with wheat and apple trees scattered here and there." The god waved his hands and helped create the smaller things. En created mountains and fields, bodies of water, and then finally the bare bones structure of the palace and the rainbow bridge from Loki's descriptions. The god walked around slowly, scattering flowers here and there, conjuring natural beauty where he could. His power was flickering. It had only been two months since the nightmare. The baby was drawing all of Loki's power because it had been such a powerful being itself. Loki walked towards En, not feeling too good. He was so tired, even with the small use of magic. He was only three months along, but the baby was taking a toll on him immensely. Once he'd found En, he asked if they could go home, hoping they'd done enough world building for the day. They'd both gotten a considerable amount of work done for the day, so En agreed to it, especially seeing how bad Loki felt. Regardless of how he felt, he was spending time with En and Sleipnir like it was his last moment with them. With Thanos on his way, Loki hoped and prayed to the Norns that they would all be safe.

The next week, they called upon one of the Asgardian healers to do an ultrasound on the baby to check on it and to find out what gender it would be. Both of them had been extremely nervous, especially Loki because of the whole Thanos accident that had happened around the one month mark. He laid back, waiting for the healer to do her magic. The magic showed the baby as a hologram-like image, letting them know the baby was alright.

"Would you like to know the gender?" She asked with a soft smile. Loki took En's hand and gave her a nod.

"It's a girl." She spoke warmly, looking at them with an expression of happiness on her face. "She's very strong magically, and she's doing very well. That's why you haven't been feeling good. Magic babies are a little different." She reminded them, gently patting Loki's arm. En smiled, mesmerized by the image of their baby girl.

"Did you hear that, Loki? It's a baby girl.. baby Frigga." En's voice cracked, his emotions getting the best of him. Loki felt a tear slip down his face and the nurse handed them tissues. Loki leaned up and melted into En's arms, his boyfriend eagerly awaiting his embrace. If someone told him four months ago that he would be in love with one of the Elders of the Universe, pregnant with said Elder's baby, and aligned with the Avengers, he wouldn't have believed it. With the exception of Thanos' coming looming in the distance, Loki had never been so happy in his entire thousand plus years of existence. The healer left their room and Loki laid his head on En's shoulder.

"Baby Frigga. My mother is beaming from Valhalla, I'm sure of it." Loki murmured softly, sniffling as he tried to gain composure once more.

"I'm sure of it too. I'm sure she's so proud of you." En added and Loki gripped the back of his shirt. "Just a few more touches and Dagny will be complete. Then we will focus on shuttling the whole of Asgard beyond its borders."

"They'll be so happy.. A lot of them are scared right now. They're afraid that Thanos will.. murder them. We won't let that happen." Loki spoke as more of a reassurance to himself.

"We'll put up forcefields stronger than twenty times what Asgard's were previously." En elaborated. "Then.. the fight."

"I know I'm forbidden to go, but it pains me to no end to know that you'll be gone and I have no control of your destiny." Loki whispered.

"It's best this way. He knows how my powers work. He'd get you as far away from me as possible and kill you.. and then my magic would be useless by the time I got to you. I can only resurrect the dead if they haven't been dead for too long." En had never explained that before, but now it made so much more sense. "And after the birth, I am going to make you immortal." Loki held his hand and nodded.

"I know it's a large burden to be immortal, but it won't be if I'm with you." Loki murmured into En's shoulder, staying as close as possible to him.

"Thanos is coming. We have to prepare." En spoke seriously, gently standing up, helping Loki up with him. "Stark has a panic room.. you can stay when Dr. Strange alerts us to Thanos' coming."

"I don't want to leave you, but I agree with you on that." The trickster admitted, frowning. "The baby's wellbeing is more important than my own."

As they left the room with the good news, the also left with an air of urgency. The further along Loki got, the closer Thanos was to finding them. En would lay at night, worrying endlessly about it as he watched his sleeping lover. He caressed Loki's raven hair longingly, afraid that if he closed his eyes for even one moment that Thanos would steal him away.

***********************************************************

At five months, Loki was clearly showing. His thin frame made it obvious now, and his normal leather outfit was far from fitting. He was sticking to shirts that they'd managed to get earlier on when they went shopping. He sat on the couch, pensive. En was seated a space away from him, casually watching Loki. He scooted over, wrapping an arm around his god.

"What are you thinking about, love?" He asked softly, reaching over and caressing Loki's abdomen. Loki smiled a little and then looked over at him. Things had gotten better, although his magic was shot. If Thanos were to kidnap him, he'd be all but defenseless. That was gnawing on him so much. The fact that he couldn't do anything to protect their baby made him feel weak. En distracted him just by touching him. He glanced over, then leaned into En's embrace, his head laying on En's shoulder.

"It's my magic. I can't do anything. I can't even conjure a simple charm or illusion." Loki tried to explain, clearly concerned about it.

"I'll protect you." En reminded him. "I can cast a protection charm on you before I leave."

"But that's with a plan." Loki countered. "We have a plan, but we're not prepared for him. Not really." He added.

"The plan is to immediately make sure you, your brother, and the Asgardians and Earthlings are safe." En spoke softly. "None of us really know what he's going to do or when."

"I just.." Loki started to speak, then moved his hand to his small bump, over En's. "I wish he wouldn't have waited until we're most vulnerable." He intertwined his fingers with En's, gently giving his hand a small squeeze.

"I do too.. but he's not going to let it be convenient. From what I saw in my vision, he wants to take the baby. I don't know if he wants to kill her or if he wants to take her as his own. Either way, it's terrible." En murmured as he gently rubbed Loki's stomach. "I swear on my life that I'll protect you and Frigga until my last dying breath." Loki knew that En would protect him, and that was comforting to him. Loki shifted a little in his seat and then En gasped softly.

"Did you feel that?" The Elder asked, looking to Loki, whose eyes widened as he simultaneously felt it.

"Frigga is kicking.." Loki murmured in awe, smiling happily as he felt her kick once more, looking back up to En.

"That's incredible. I've never.. I mean, that's so amazing." En was speechless. He knew it was all real, but now that he felt her kick, his brown eyes welled up with tears. He sniffled a little and Loki's smile widened more.

"You've gotten all soft on me." Loki teased playfully and brought his other hand up to En's cheek, caressing off the stray tear that had fallen on his cheek.

"All these, uh, millennia and I've never fallen this far in love, let alone have a baby with anyone. It's just.. so much." En tried to explain and Loki simply leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips to silence him.

"I haven't fallen in love either. This child is my first with someone whom I truly love." Loki murmured against his lips. Sleipnir ran into the room as Loki and En were kissing and he giggled.

"Bleh!" Sleipnir exclaimed, grossed out by romance at his young age. Loki smiled against En's lips and pulled away gently.

"Ah! Young Sleipnir, c'mere! Your baby sister is kicking!" En motioned for him to come over and he practically ran, heading over to Loki. He reached out and Loki held his hand, moving it to where the baby was kicking him.

"Feel that?" Loki asked softly and Sleipnir's eyes lit up.

"Frigga is kicking! Can she hear me?" Sleipnir inquired and Loki chuckled, nodding.

"Of course she can hear you." Loki murmured and Sleipnir leaned in, cupping his hands around his mouth, as if he were whispering a secret to her. Unbeknownst to Loki, he'd actually murmured, "I'll be the bestest big brother ever to you, Frigga." Loki and En didn't know what he'd said, but both found it completely adorable that he was talking to her. Loki ruffled Sleipnir's hair and he looked up at Loki with adoration.

"I love you mommy." Sleipnir spoke in the more pure tone of voice ever. "I love you so much." He then hugged Loki, climbing up on the couch in between En and Loki. It was then that he turned to En. "I love you too, daddy. Very much." It was the first time that Sleipnir had referred to En as daddy instead of En. It was quite a day of firsts. Sleipnir hugged En tightly, not wanting to let go.

It was moments like that one that made waiting for Thanos to arrive bearable. The next eight weeks were like a blur, but En and Loki spent all the time that they could together. Whether En was pampering Loki with massages or showering him with gifts for the baby, he was doing all he could to make Loki happy. As they approached the seventh month mark, En grew increasingly restless.

They were up one night laying in bed, neither one of them able to sleep, so they ended up turning on a light and cuddling up together.

"Where do you think we'd be if we hadn't met?" Loki mused, his hands resting on his baby bump. He knew for a fact that he wouldn't be pregnant. Though he was promiscuous on Asgard, he'd never been that reckless other than that time with Sleipnir. He knew that it must have been the day he'd been inebriated on the ship with En. He hadn't been with another male other than En since before his attack on Earth, so he'd known immediately that it was En's as soon as he found out.

"Well.. I would still be living an.. uh, boring existence on Sakaar. Doing my daily routine, I suppose. Games.. booze.. sex." En shrugged a little, looking at Loki. "Or saving my brother's ass." Loki looked over at En with a soft smile.

"Lets see.. well, if Hela hadn't killed me and I made it through the destruction of Asgard, I honestly suppose I might be aligned with Thanos. I know I can't be fully redeemed or anything, but it scares me to think what I might have done serving under him." Loki murmured. "I didn't picture myself as a family man at all." He chuckled.

"With that sweet ass?" En teased playfully and Loki glared teasingly at him.

"How'd you really know you were in love with me?" Loki asked softly, a more serious subject.

"When you first kissed me. It was like a spark. I knew exactly what I wanted." En explained and Loki grinned.

"You pulled my hair." Loki murmured with a playful pout.

"But you loved it." En fired back and Loki grinned, a guilty blush glowing on his cheeks. "Otherwise you wouldn't call me daddy when I-" Loki's blush grew even more fiery as he cut En off.

"Okay, okay. You win." Loki admitted and smiled, growing quiet as he saw the loving way En looked at him. The Elder looked at him as if he were his entire moon and stars. Loki smiled and leaned in, stealing a kiss from him in the silence. He smiled softly, feeling En start to kiss back. Loki felt the baby kicking again and he laughed softly, pulling away a little. "Frigga is kicking me.."

"She's jealous that she, um, isn't getting any attention." En spoke matter-of-factly with a smile as he pulled away, moving down on the bed a little so he could fawn over Frigga. En placed his hand over the bump, caressing it gently, hoping it would calm Frigga down. "Hello darling.." He grinned, glancing up to Loki who was smiling like a fool. "It's your dad.. En. I haven't gotten to talk to you much yet, but I want you to know that I love you very much." Loki thought he might melt from how adorable En was being. "We can't wait to meet you and cuddle you.. and show you a world of.. hope and peace." That meant the most to En. He wanted to raise Frigga on Dagny in a world without conflict. He knew it wasn't possible, but at least for fifty years or so, there might be total peace on the new planet. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to Loki's abdomen after he felt her kick. "She can't wait." En spoke playfully and Loki nodded.

"Neither can I." Loki admitted and smiled lovingly, motioning for En to come back up so he could kiss him some more. Just as their lips met, the warning alarm came on. Loki's eyelids snapped open and a look of fear overcame him. It couldn't be. Not yet. En looked just as bewildered as Loki did, not wanting to leave. Loki's hands rested on En's cheeks.

"You can't go!" Loki pled with him, emotion overtaking him. "Please!"

"I have to, Loki. I have to." He shook his head, fighting back the emotion himself as he took hold of Loki's hand, running with him to get Sleipnir before rushing to the meeting room with Sleipnir in his arms. All of the Avengers had scrambled to the room to get an update on what was happening. Strange emerged from the hallway to address everyone on what was going on.

"The good news is that I have placed the Tesseract in an infinite loop successfully. The bad news is that Thanos has showed up on my radar. He's heading here at a rate of twenty three million miles a day from approximately where the sun is located. We have four days to get everything ready." Stephen explained and En stepped forward, Loki still clinging to him.

"It was meant to be more of a surprise, but now it's urgent. With the help of Loki, I have found a planet of refuge for the Asgardians. It is heavily warded with protection spells. We need to teleport all of the Asgardians immediately, and only I have the power to do that. Thor.. gather all of the Asgardians and get them to the planet. I will meet you after I have warded Loki." En elaborated and Thor nodded, hurrying out of the room.

"We have to fight. We have to stop Thanos. He doesn't have all six gems, but he has five from what we can tell. It's going to be a hell of a fight. Good luck everyone. I'll brief everyone on the ship." Steve instructed.

Meanwhile, En was rushing Loki to the panic room that Tony agreed to let Loki use. Once they were there, En had to say his goodbyes. He knew very well that it could be the last time he ever saw Loki, and he didn't want that to be true with all of his heart. Sleipnir knew something was wrong too. He didn't want to leave mommy. En kissed Loki passionately as quickly as he could, looking into his eyes as a last reminder.

"Just know that no matter what happens, I love you. Forever." En reminded him breathlessly.

"I love you too En Dwi. Come back to me. Promise me." Loki demanded of him.

"I promise." En murmured and kissed him.

"Mommy! You can't stay here, you hafta come with us!" Sleipnir urged him, getting teary-eyed.

"Darling, it's only for a little while. I love you." Loki spoke, tearing up himself as he pressed a kiss to Sleipnir's forehead and then to his cheek, hugging him. En stole a kiss once more before he warded the room, leaving Loki alone in the room except for Pepper. Pepper looked to him and he looked to her before he broke down, sobbing. He told himself he wouldn't cry, but he couldn't hold it back. The person he loved most was leaving. Maybe forever. Pepper walked over, bringing him into a hug.

"Loki.. you've got to stay strong. If not for En, for the baby." She spoke calmly, even though she was in the same boat. She still cared deeply for Tony even though he was more or less falling for someone else.

En left the tower, teleporting with Sleipnir to the Avenger's remote training facility where they'd been housing all of the other Asgardians. Once he was there, he instructed everyone to link hands so that they could teleport. The extremely bad part about it was that his power would be extremely drained after teleporting that many people that far away. After everyone including Sleipnir was linked up, En used all of his concentration, closing his eyes as he pictured Dagny. When he opened his eyes, they were there, but he was much weaker than before.

"Citizens of Asgard, you should be safe here.. but uh, be on the lookout for Thanos and be ready to fight if the worst case happens." En reminded them.

"Daddy! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!" Sleipnir was hysterical. En crouched down to his level.

"Sleip... buddy, I promise I will not leave you forever. This is to keep you safe. Heimdall will take good care of you until the danger is over." En reminded him and kissed his forehead, hugging him tightly.

"I love you daddy. You hafta come back. Please.." Sleipnir pled once more and En nodded.

"I will. I promise." En spoke with a brave face
before he teleported back to Earth. Again, he was at the tower, but instead he was in the ship with the other Avengers. They looked around when they saw the teleportation happening, but all calmed after seeing it was just En. En took a seat beside Thor and took a deep breath, feeling drained from the goodbyes and the teleportation of all of the people to the new Asgard.

"En.. if you die today and leave my brother lonely, I'll visit you in the afterlife just so I can kick your ass." Thor spoke, half-playfully, half-serious toward En.

"I have no plans of it. Loki and Frigga are safe. That's all that matters." En reminded him and Thor's eyes misted over.

"Frigga?" Thor murmured in question, looking to En.

"Our daughter, Frigga." En clarified and Thor gave En a bittersweet smile.

"She would be honored." It was all Thor could find the words to say. He was so excited to have a new niece on the way, but even more so to know that Loki honored their mother in such a big way. En gave him a nod, glancing around to see what thought were going on in the Avengers' minds as they went toward maybe their ultimate doom. Thor's thought was:

'I hope En will be good to Loki.' Thor wasn't looking at En when he thought it. En smiled a little.

'I will.' En thought to himself. He went to read Steve's mind then, having known Cap to be the leader and the brave one.

'Oh shit.' Steve was thinking. It was almost a scream thought, so En got up, moving to the front.

"What's going on?" En asked Steve and Tony. He didn't have to have his question answered before Thanos' mega ship approached. Steve and Tony were speechless, waiting to see what the Mad Titan was about to do. En saw a ship jettison off of the side, going toward Earth.

"What the hell is he doing?" Tony asked, looking back and forth from the two in confusion, a terrified expression coming over his face as he realized what was going on. "He's letting his army deal with us while he goes to Earth." The plan they'd made was suddenly shattered.

"We have to turn around. En, can you teleport us?" They asked and En nodded before he felt dizzy, hanging onto the side of the ship before he passed out completely.

****************************

The first thing Loki heard was a rumble. It was like an earthquake in New York, but he soon came to realize that it was anything but that. Something was banging heavily on the door that had been warded by protection magic. Loki's eyes widened, looking to Pepper.

"Hide." Loki practically hissed and they both frantically looked for hiding spots. Pepper found a storage container, but it wasn't big enough for Loki. He was left like a rat in a cage, awaiting the scary man to come and rip him out of it. The trickster panicked, trying his best to at least illusion the pregnancy. He knew that Thanos didn't know about it, but he would find out if Loki didn't fix it right that moment. Loki tried and his magic fizzled.

"Fuck. Fuck me." Loki whimpered softly as the door gave way to reveal a grinning Thanos standing on the other side.

"Miss me?" Thanos grinned like a cat who ate the canary. It was then that his eyes drifted to Loki's stomach. His grin widened, looking sickening.

Notes:

Thanos never quits, does he? It's quite infuriating. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I am hoping to have the next chapter up next week! So far, I think there are only two more chapters left. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions! Thank you all for the support!

Chapter 12: I'll Save You

By the time the Avengers made it back to the tower, it had already been ransacked and pillaged through. Nothing was taken that they knew of. En had finally come to, but he was in a weak state. He looked around, his eyes wide with panic.

"The panic room... Loki!" En leaned up off the floor of the ship, hurrying to get up and break through from where Steve and Nat had surrounded him. The Elder practically ran to the room, his stomach dropping as he saw the giant hole ripped in the door. He hurried inside, calling out for his trickster. When he didn't see him, he panicked even more.

"Uh... um... okay. Don't panic. Don't panic. I'm fucking panicking! Oh gods." En was starting to hyperventilate as Pepper came out from her hiding place.

"He took Loki. You have to go after him." Pepper spoke, practically pushing him out the door. The Elder grabbed his chest, feeling his heart pounding fast. He'd never been so terrified in his life.

"Do you know where he went?" En asked, more like demanded.

"I don't know, I'm sorry." Pepper replied, trying to stay calm.

"The ship!" En exclaimed as his eyes widened. On his way out the door he saw Steve. "We have to go save Loki!" En called out desperately and Steve gave him a sad look.

"We have to save Earth. It's one man or the whole of Earth's population." Steve tried to explain as calmly as he could. En looked at him as if he had murdered the trickster himself. En gave him a look of betrayal, shaking his head.

"Fine. I keep watch over the universe for millions of years and you earthlings can't even do one damn thing for me. I see where your loyalty lies, Captain." En's words were full of venom as he stormed off, trying to find a vehicle that would get him to space. His upper lip felt warm and when he brushed his fingers over it, they came away with blood on them. His nose was bleeding from the amount of magic he'd been using. Teleportation was out of the question, at least for now. Whatever he decided to do, he'd have to hurry.

***********************

Loki actually went without a fight. To save the baby, he would have to be on his best behavior. As they arrived on the ship, Loki's hands were in magical handcuffs. As soon as Thanos had gotten him on the ship, he shackled Loki's ankles to chains on the wall as well as his wrists. He was able to move, but only within a five foot radius. He looked up at Thanos with contempt as the other looked at him with a diabolical smile.

"Look at you." Thanos commented, using a single purple finger to lift up Loki's chin to make him look into the Titan's eyes. "The whore of Asgard. I didn't know the rumors were true until now." Loki gave him a glare, one from the very depth of his soul. "So you've given birth to a monster before, this should be no different." The trickster stayed still, not wanting to fight back. If he decided to fight back, he'd be jeopardizing Frigga.

"Not to mention your other monstrous children. Tell me, how did it feel to watch them die before your very eyes? Hela.. Fenrir, Jormundgand.. maybe more. Who knows really, with how much you get around." Thanos elaborated, hoping to strike a nerve.

"Where were you when Hela was destroying Asgard? Destroying your children? Oh, that's right, you were giving the Grandmaster a blowjob. What a shame." Thanos smirked, knowing that would hit a nerve.

"You care about yourself more than you could ever care about your children. The Grandmaster is the same way. If your baby comes out looking like a monster, he won't want it." The alien was doing all he could to get Loki to retaliate. Loki was trying not to be emotional, but he was failing miserably on that front thanks to the hormones.

"Seems I've hit a nerve. It's because you know it's true. You'd rather watch them die a hundred times before you'd actually take care of them. You watched Fenrir die while you were perched on the rainbow bridge looking like an angel. With him dies your affair with that giantess. You say you could do nothing but you know that isn't true. Hela would have listened to you." Thanos spoke confidently. Loki's eyes burned with rage as he looked up at Thanos defiantly. "Go ahead, say your worst to me. It only confirms your neglect."

"What do you want with me?" Loki asked, trying not to let his voice falter or his lip quiver as he spoke.

"You will stay here with me until I capture En Dwi Gast. Once he's here, I'm going to kill you and the baby in front of him. Or maybe I'll kill him and the baby in front of you. It depends on which of you has made me the most angry over the period of the past few millennia. You two think you're clever, hiding the Asgardians from me. I know they're alive, just not where you've hidden them. I don't like being made a fool." Thanos spoke, then turned to leave. "Enjoy the waiting game. I've been told that En likes games. He's going to absolutely love this one."

Loki was left alone except for Frigga. She was kicking tirelessly, apparently alerted by Loki's racing heart. He sat back against the wall, caressing his abdomen, trying to calm her down.

"It's alright, love. We'll get out of this one. I've gotten out of worse." Loki lied. It was a habit of his. "Well, maybe not worse. Regardless, I'm going to save you. En is coming. He can help us." In that respect, Loki actually wasn't sure. As long as En didn't come, Loki wouldn't die, so he was in sort of a conundrum. The longer En took to get there, the longer Loki would have to formulate a plan to get out. Frigga kicked him again, resting finally after that big kick. He sighed softly, leaning his head back against the hard metal of the wall. As much as he hoped things would improve, they weren't going to improve without some critical thinking. Loki looked at the cuffs, noting that they were magical cuffs. Not that it mattered because of how his magic had been drained throughout the pregnancy. He looked to the shackles on the wall, seeing if there was a way to get them loose, but there wasn't. He was truly trapped. All he could hope for was for En to come and save him.

***************************
En wasn't thinking straight. He was panicking more than ever as he set the controls on the ship to take off. He took a few deep breaths, leaning back in the seat as he lifted off and flew quickly up into the atmosphere. He knew in the dream that Thanos had threatened to kill Loki, and that was something he wasn't prepared for. He was running out of time. Tracking the biggest ship in the Galaxy in one singular galaxy shouldn't be hard, right? The Elder looked everywhere, not able to find out where it was located. Thanos must have cloaked it, which would take magic to reveal its exact location. He brought his palm up to his forehead in frustration, hoping that with his weak telepathy he would be able to locate Loki before it was too late.

**************************

Loki had fallen asleep on the cold ground of the metal ship, only waking when the Mad Titan's footsteps shook the ground. He leaned up, ready to be on the attack if Thanos were to loosen his restraints.

"I would have thought your companion would have found you by now. Did I make it too hard? I'm actually quite enjoying the wait. The more miserable you are, the happier I am." Thanos grinned and Loki leaned back against the wall, shaking his head.

"He knows better than to fall into your trap." Loki finally spoke in defiance of the alien.

"Really? You think so? I've seen older beings fall in love. They are so desperate to keep love that they'll do anything to stop whatever is keeping them apart. They grow reckless." Thanos explained and sat down in front of him. "When he comes... not if, I will be ready. His magic will be drained as he enters. He won't be able to stop me from killing you and the baby." Thanos assured Loki, looking positively wicked about it.

"That may be. But I'll go to Hel and back to save our baby. You strike me down and I'll persuade Lady Death to bring you down in the most horrific way possible. You think you know pain? There will be no rock.. no crevice where I won't find you. Sound familiar? The Norns have mercy on your damned soul when I do." Loki growled, finally standing up to him, standing physically as well.

"There's that fire. I was afraid you'd turned soft. Here... I'll strike a deal with you. You give me the baby.. and work for me, and I'll let you live." Thanos tried to bargain, trying not to let Loki see that he was shaken.

"I'm not giving you the baby. Go to Hel." Loki spat at him, showing some fighting spirit. "If I wasn't pregnant, I'd show you the fucking door myself."

Thanos seemed unfazed by the threats Loki was making. After all, he wasn't the one in chains. He was surprised by the amount of fight left in Loki, especially since Loki was usually the broker of deals around the universe.

"I assumed you'd be trying to make a deal to get out of this. I suppose I was wrong." Thanos mused and Loki shook his head.

"I don't make deals with creatures like you." Loki spoke with all of the bravery in the universe.

"Then so be it. Your execution will come as a great comfort to me. Knowing that I am making both you and En Dwi Gast suffer is enough to keep me content for centuries." Thanos retorted and Loki raised an eyebrow.

"What? What is this infinity gauntlet epic you've put yourself off on then? Hmm? You're doing all of this, trying to find all the gems, and for what?" Loki asked, his tone still harsh.

"To control the universe, of course. All aspects of it. I can't do that with you two in the way." Thanos replied flatly.

"Actually, you'll have to go through way more than just us. The celestial beings? They're coming for you and they're /pissed/." Loki spoke, trying to get Thanos paranoid. "Especially because you attacked an Elder of the Universe."

"Bring them on. Once I control all six gems, you'll all quiver beneath my wrath." Thanos boasted and Loki simply smirked.

"And until then?" Loki quipped right back.

Thanos' face was enough to let Loki know that he'd said just the right thing to step on his toes. Let him get pissed. He wasn't going to kill Loki until En arrived anyway.

******************************
En finally found the ship after precious hours of searching. When he did find it, he found it surprisingly unprotected. He knew something was fishy, but regardless, he had to get Loki out of there. He set the ship on stealth mode and autopilot so that it couldn't be seen and he could leave it there. Once he'd gotten out, he'd looked around, finding a passageway that seemed like a safe bet in.

En shimmied through, finding a door that led to the cell hall. He figured he could just slip in, get Loki, and leave, but it wasn't going to be that easy. Once he stepped foot into the hall, a series of traps were triggered. The whole hall had been turned into an anti-magic room. He was shocked by an obedience disk-like object, and then guards rushed him, putting on anti-magic handcuffs on him. It was a trap. Of course.

The next step was to drag En to Thanos where he would face the music. There was a pounding in his chest each step closer they took. He felt like the situation was too eerily similar to his vision for comfort. He knew Loki was probably counting on him to get them both out and to safety, and all of his plans were just demolished in the span of two seconds.

En was dragged before Thanos, the Mad Titan grinning. The Titan looked to Loki who was chained up, and then to En as if pointing out that what he'd said was coming true.

"Greetings, En Dwi Gast. It's nice to see you again. Especially on such circumstances as these." Thanos began, wanting to savor the moment. "I thought I had killed your precious Loki last time, but it obviously did not work. This time, I assure you, you will watch Loki die. Not only that, but you will watch your unborn child die as well." He laid out his plans simply for En to hear.

En's heart sank and his eyes widened as he saw Loki's look of desperation as he was chained up. The vision was coming true. Loki and their child would die in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop Thanos. Without his magic, he wouldn't be able to resurrect Loki again. His worst fear was to lose the ones he loved and it was happening. He struggled against the chains, looking at Thanos defiantly.

"Why would you choose Loki to breed with? He is not only the god of deceit, but of mischief. What makes you think he'd be a good parent? Your child would be a monster, just like Loki." Thanos spoke to En and En glared at him defiantly.

"You're the monster, Thanos. I will find a way to save Loki. I will drag myself down to hell to find a way to bring him back. Lady Death can be persuaded," En started, thinking before he said the next part. "Not by you, of course." En sasses him and Thanos hit him back against the wall. The Grandmaster let out a soft noise of displeasure as he hit the hard metal. Loki struggled against his chains too, feeling Frigga getting upset by his panic. He needed to get them both out of there.

"I don't care who you persuade. I will take over the universe and create it in my own image. Nothing will ever exist that is greater than what I will create." Thanos mused. En was terrified of that potential world. He looked to Loki, trying to telepathically reach him, but it was useless. Both of their magic had been drained and now they were helpless. Not even Thor could get to them in time.

"Even if you kills us today, we aren't the only resistance. The Avengers, the Guardians... the celestials, they'll all come for you and destroy you." En managed to get out, his ribs aching. If only he could heal himself and break them out. In his mind, he begged with Lady Death to spare them.

'Please.. Lady Death if you can hear me; please break your ban on Thanos. He will destroy all worlds.. all galaxies, and he won't be happy with stopping there. If you can hear me, please spare my trickster and our child.' It was a simple plea from the mind of an Elder, but Lady Death heard his cries. Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned her gaze upon what Thanos had done and what he planned to do. It was all going too far, and it was all because of her. Of course she reveled in death, so the deaths of billions of galaxies would not trouble her too much, but she had a soft spot for her Grandmaster.

That was one thing that En hadn't told Loki. Millions of years ago when he was a younger man, he'd had somewhat of a fling with Lady Death. Because of his incredible powers, she found him rather interesting and allowed him to stay in her realm with her. She never said very much, but even today, stars would swear they'd seen the Grandmaster kiss Lady Death and survive it. No one who got too close to her would live. She always choked the life out of everything without meaning to, so she stayed secluded in her realm where the dead things all resided. Grandmaster was a ladies man - heck - an all people's man for that matter. He had a certain charm about him which carried over throughout the ages. Legends were told all over the galaxy of a white-haired man from the sea of stars who was notorious for one night stands with kings, queens, and even other celestials. The one person who wasn't impressed by it all was his brother, Taneleer. He was an immortal like En, now that the Grandmaster had won his soul back from the clutches of Lady Death. They both enjoyed finding one single most hobby. En's hobby was games, and Taneleer's was being a collector of items from all over the universe. They had been traveling throughout the galaxy before En fell into the portal which took him to Sakaar.

Regardless, En had a lot of powerful allies, and Lady Death was one of them. He had only not told Loki, however, because he was afraid that his trickster might be jealous when he found out what they had been like together. Now that he finally was calling in a favor, she was happy to oblige. Something in En's heart told him that he had a chance to kill Thanos, but it was then the question of how to kill him.

"Enough toying around. I have an execution to get to." Thanos bellowed, looking at Loki with a terrifying expression of glee on his face. He couldn't wait to see En's face when he killed Loki for the second and final time. He hoped the Elder would slowly slip into insanity. The best case scenario for Thanos would be that En slipped into insanity so that he could take the Elder's power as his own. He hadn't quite figured out how he was going to do that, but he decided that he would take his plan one step at a time.

Thanos unlocked the chains, knowing that Loki was without his powers. The most Loki could do was stab him, and not even Loki had his daggers with him. He had been so caught off guard by the whole kidnapping that he hadn't been carrying them. The huge brute ordered Loki to get on his knees, execution-style.

"You know, I would really like to savor this moment," Thanos began his speech. "Had you just put aside your petty ambition, you wouldn't be in this situation right now. You fell into my hands and I molded you. I told you that there was no way for you to fail so that you would have foolish confidence in my plan. I knew you would ultimately keep the Tesseract, knowing the sort of trickster you are. You just can't stay out of trouble, no matter how dangerous. Now you've put not only yourself, but everyone that you love in danger." Thanos made Loki look up at him because the trickster had been defiant and looked down.

"After I'm done with you, I'm going to kill every last Asgardian, saving your brother for last so that he can watch his people die and know that you were the one who caused all of this. He'll die hating you. It's what you've always wanted, is it not?" Thanos boasted and En watched helplessly, struggling against his own bonds.

"You may tell him that it was my fault, but he'll know that it wasn't my intention. He knows in his heart was my true intentions are. You can never change that, Thanos." Loki replied bravely.

He knew that it was coming close to the end, so he was trying to make peace with his decisions. He turned to En, looking helpless. En never wanted to see that look on Loki's face ever again. It was the face of a child, terrified.

"En.. you know I love you, right? I love you.. and I love our daughter Frigga," Loki paused, letting out a soft sob. "And I love my brother Thor. I never say it enough, but I really do. You all have treated me with the utmost respect. You alone have brought me back from the edge of the abyss. I can never thank you enough." Loki finished, looking to En.

"Don't say that.." En choked out. "We're.. we're gonna get through this together, okay? You're not going to die. I won't let that happen." En teared up, shaking his head. "I love you. That's the reason that I won't give up. I'll save you."

They both knew that things looked bad for Loki. En couldn't die, but Loki on the other hand, could. Thanos had actually thought through each angle of his attack, which was not normals for him. He must have had help. If he did, it wasn't obvious, because there had been no one there other than him and his guards on the ship. Maybe it had been the guards.

Thanos had the gauntlet on, five gems illuminating the knuckles of the piece. Loki knew that even one of the gems could kill him. Five of them could do a hell of a lot more. He wouldn't die without a fight. If he died on his knees, he would not go to Valhalla, which he knew probably wasn't a possibility from him anyway. Regardless, his pride would not allow it. With whatever strength he could conjure up, he stood on his feet, still looking up at Thanos.

"I will not die a coward's death. You'll have to fight me." Loki spoke, his voice louder now, though a bit shaky.

"So be it." Thanos spoke as he raised the gauntlet. Loki had nothing but his fists to fight with, so it didn't look good, but it was more of a symbol than anything else.

In that moment, it was like everything moved in slow motion. Loki and En both locked eyes, neither of them wanting to see anything else but each other. Tears glistened in the Grandmaster's eyes as his face twisted into one of pain, his mouth opening in shock as he watched the gauntlet light up. Loki felt a hand on his shoulder then, looking to the side to his a visage of his mother. Frigga. She had a sad expression on her face as well, but one that brought peace into Loki's soul as she stood there supporting him. As the light grew brighter, Loki closed his eyes, tears dropping from his lashes and down his cheeks as he waited for his inevitable death. He took in a deep breath, vaguely remembering hearing En scream. It was a scream that chilled him to the bone.

*********************************************

En pulled his chains so hard that his wrists felt like they might break. He saw the huge flash of light, his body shaking as he saw his trickster vanish from his eyes as the light overtook him. He closed his eyes, not able to watch anymore. When he opened his eyes, he expected Loki to be gone, but it was quite the opposite. He saw Loki standing there - actually levitating, his eyes glowing bright gold like En's had when he first conquered Thanos. He saw Loki's facial expression turn into one of great concentration, his brows knitting together tightly as he raised his hands in front of him, turning all of Thanos' power on him at once. The power of all of the combined gems and En's request of Lady Death to lift Thanos' ban on death was enough to completely obliterate Thanos and the his ship as well.

It was as if Loki and En were in a protective forcefield. The ship was gone and En was floating, looking around in panic. He knew he wouldn't die in an explosion, but what about Loki? As he looked to Loki, his partner was completely untouched. Thanos was gone and Loki held the gauntlet. He didn't want it all for himself, rather, he held it so no one else could possess the power. That was when Loki's eyes closed and he went limp, floating in space. En levitated over to Loki, his chains having melted off before. He reached for Loki, finding that the residual magic was enough to teleport them back to Earth.

Once En landed at the tower, the other Avengers were all back. They had been fighting tirelessly against Thanos' army, and they were confused as to why the army had just all stopped. They had all retreated to space, knowing that their master had been defeated. En hurried inside, rushing to the medical wing where Helen Cho and her team were ready to help with casualties from the battle. Tony was still in his Iron Man suit. In fact, everyone was still in their battle gear. Loki lay unconscious as En laid him on the table for Helen to help.

"We need Asgardian healers.." En spoke, almost out of it from all of the trauma he'd just been through. Thor put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. I'll make sure he is okay. You need to get some help yourself, En. Please." Thor spoke politely to him and En nodded, his eyes wide as he put a hand on his forehead, taking a seat across from where they had Loki on the table.

"I.. I couldn't do anything. My magic.. I.. I couldn't help. Thanos is gone.. the gauntlet.." En couldn't even form sentences. He felt like he was going out of his mind. Thor placed a blanket around him and En leaned back against the wall. "Please help him.. help Frigga." En pled. Thor teared up himself, not holding his emotions back anymore. He cared so deeply for his brother and he didn't want him to die, nor Frigga. He would do anything he could to help.

Thor hurried over to Loki, wishing he had some sort of healing powers like his brother. En had stood back up as well, hurrying to Loki's side as he tried to use his own magic to bring Loki back to consciousness. It was all a blur as everyone worked together to try and heal Loki. Aside from Loki, Clint had taken a bit of damage, but he would live. His injuries were non-life threatening. The Avengers that were human without powers were the ones who had injuries. They had been so brave in battle, but they were no match for the extraterrestrial warriors.

*********************************************************

A week had passed and everyone was slowly recovering. They were bruised and quite sore, but on the mend. En had stayed by Loki's bedside in the recovery room nonstop, save for heading back to Dagny quickly to get Sleipnir. He was sore from sleeping in the chair, but he refused to leave Loki's side. The trickster had been in sort of a magical coma. He was alright, but he had been so drained from the magic that his body was protecting him and letting him rest up. Cho had said that he would be fine, it just might take a few days to weeks for him to wake up. No movement could be felt from him for days. En studied the features of Loki's face in detail, watching for signs of his trickster waking up, but there hadn't been any. If the circumstances hadn't been so horrible, he would have thought Loki in a peaceful sleep. He wasn't quite smiling, but he looked relaxed. His black silky hair lay in soft ringlets on the pillow, his hands beside him. En had talked to Loki and Frigga, encouraging Frigga to wake Loki up. He could feel her still kicking, so he knew she was alive and well. Cho herself had given him confirmation of that. It seemed like a week ticked by like an eternity. Sleipnir had stayed with them in the room, sleeping on the side of the bed, curled up beside Loki. Other Avengers had stopped in, but Thor had stopped in every single day to check on his brother. At the end of the week, he stopped in and took a seat beside En, who had been holding Loki's hand, caressing it gently.

"I just want to thank you.. for being so good to my brother." Thor murmured to En, looking at the Elder who was seated almost slumped in the chair.

"I am just treating him how, uh, how he deserves to be treated. I've never... never been this in love before. It hurts so much." En admitted, wishing that he could wake his trickster up more than anything else.

"It does. I've never seen him this happy. I mean, when he's with you, it's like he is the same brother I had before he found out that he wasn't my full brother. He's full of life. He smiles, laughs, enjoys living." Thor mused, looking at his little brother with a soft expression.

That meant a lot to En. He had noticed that Loki was a very agreeable person around him. At first, everyone had made a point of telling him how full of mischief and how despicable Loki was, but En had never seen any of that. Maybe when he first came to Sakaar, but he wasn't manipulative now. He seemed to really want a new start.

"I've never been this happy either. I want only the best for him.. he absolutely completes me." En admitted, squeezing Loki's hand.

In that exact moment, he felt a small squeeze back. His eyes widened and he glanced up to Loki's face, watching for his eyes to open. Sure enough, his eyelids fluttered open. He was disoriented at first, but he smiled when he saw En and Thor by his bedside.

"We did it." He smiled, getting emotional.

Notes:

Keep going! As a gift to you all and because I am about to be busy, I decided to upload the last chapter as well! I don't want to keep you all waiting and its a little bit shorter than this one. It's definitely worth it though so I hope you all will enjoy it!

Chapter 13: Frigga

Notes:

Chapter 13.. What do I even say? This chapter was cursed. It was like the universe did not want me to end the story. I started off writing it and had 1000 words done and it lost my draft. I panicked and started all over, writing at least that much again. After all of that, my first draft shows back up. Here is the chapter that almost drove me crazy, but as a result is my favorite.

Before he could say anything else, En had leaned up, stealing a kiss from him. It was a gentle, yet longing kiss. He had truly thought that he'd lost his love in that spaceship, so it was overwhelmingly amazing to see him awake and smiling.

"I'm literally never going to leave you alone again." En spoke playfully against his lips.

"I would be worried if you didn't." Loki murmured back teasingly.

Right after that, Thor hugged his brother. He didn't hug him tightly, so not to hurt him, but it was meaningful nonetheless. Even Sleipnir had been awakened from his nap, his smile wide as he saw Loki awake. He joined in on the hug, covering Loki's face in kisses and little tears.

***********************************************

As the weeks continued to pass, the Avengers threw a small impromptu baby shower for Loki. They knew that he'd be needing some baby supplies, especially since most of their time had been spent preparing for Thanos. Each of them had chipped in to get a crib, diapers, clothes, and all kinds of other supplies. He had been so shocked when he walked into the room that he teared up. They had all become quite fond of the god and his partner, so it was the least they could do for his help in defeating Thanos. Sleipnir helped open the presents, and Loki was happy to oblige, having been quite tired as of late. The real surprise occurred when En's brother Taneleer showed up to the shower. He was late, but at least he was there. When En saw him, he rose from the chair and hurried to him, wrapping him in a huge hug. When they had finished hugging, En led him over to Loki and Sleipnir.

"Loki, Sleipnir, this is my little brother, Taneleer. Taneleer, this is my partner Loki and his son Sleipnir. Sleipnir is my kid too now." He smiled happily and Taneleer smiled widely in return.

"It's so nice to meet you. En never tells me anything. I caught word from Sakaar that En wasn't there and I followed the trail of crumbs back here. I'm glad you are both safe." He expressed and En nodded in reply. "And how is the beautiful baby?" The collector's voice was pleasant, a deep tone that he drew out when he talked.

"She's doing wonderfully. She's been kicking a lot lately." Loki replied, gently rubbing his stomach.

 

"Oh! I brought something for the baby." Tan stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out something, gently handing it to Loki. it was a baby rattle that had constellations and planets on it.

"Thank you! This is gorgeous " Loki smiled graciously, looking at the rattle as he turned it in his hand. "You're right, he never tells me anything either." Loki teased. En gave them both a playful glare before he walked around with Tan, introducing him to everyone. It was cute. Sleipnir was looking at the crib and getting excited about Frigga coming. Loki smiled as Sleipnir ran back over.

"I wish Frigga was here so she could see all of her cool presents!" Sleipnir pointed out and Loki laughed softly, pulling Sleipnir up to sit beside him on the couch.

"She's almost here. Don't rush it." Loki chuckled, feeling her kick. He was nervous about the birth, but he was honestly already one hundred percent done with carrying her around. He was used to being so skinny and he was so self conscious, though En was doing a great job of helping him get over that. It was mainly the fact that his back was hurting and he felt tired all the time, which was something that probably wasn't going to change with the baby's arrival. When En returned, his brother had already made great friends with Thor.

Loki and En had already talked about considering having Thor and Taneleer be Frigga's godfathers. It would be perfect. Now was the time to let them both know. Loki motioned En, Thor, and Taneleer over and stood up, smiling at them.

"So En and I have been talking and we decided to ask the both of you if you would like to be Frigga's godfathers." Loki spoke, gently placing his hand on his baby bump, caressing his stomach as Frigga kicked.

Thor practically teared up, getting even more excited than he'd been before. He looked to Loki for permission to touch his baby bump and Loki nodded. Thor gently rubbed his baby bump and smiled warmly.

"I can't wait to meet her. We'll be the best godfathers ever." Thor spoke confidently and Taneleer agreed, smiling just as much as Thor had.

It was nice to have a family. Every time Loki thought about how he had a loving family now, he got a little misty-eyed. It was everything he'd ever wanted.

Taneleer ended up staying at Avenger's tower, wanting to stay until Frigga was born. It was getting to the point where she was due any day. Loki mostly stayed in bed with En, save for the times he ventured out for food. It didn't really fully sink in until the first pains hit him.

***************************
It had been quite a process, but En had stayed beside Loki the entire time. Loki absolutely lost it when he saw Frigga face to face. She was absolutely beautiful in his eyes.

"Frigga.." he breathed out softly as tears rolled down both his and En's cheeks. She was about average in size of newborns, but for En, she seemed so fragile. Loki pressed a soft kiss to her head as she was handed to him after being cleaned up. Her hair was ghost white, obviously a trait from her father. Loki sniffled as he held her in his arms. Sleipnir peeked up over the bed to see his baby sister, smiling brightly.

"Hi Frigga!" Sleipnir whispered softly. She had been crying but she was settling down. Loki gently handed her to En so he could see her face to face. En held her so gingerly, afraid he might break her if he were to breathe. He brought her up and snuggled her, still in disbelief that it was his child. She had Loki's nose and En's hair.. but as for her eyes, it seemed fitting that they coincidentally looked like the eyes of Loki's mother.

They had found out that Loki had only defeated Thanos because Frigga had made it so. Frigga was so powerful that she sensed Loki in danger and gave him the power to save them both. She was a miracle, through and through.

As En held onto Frigga, he could feel the immense power she contained. She would no doubt grow to be even more powerful than the both of them. Loki would teach her to use her powers for good. He would teach her like his mother taught him and she might just turn out differently than he did. That's what he was hoping anyway. The both of them had learned important lessons along the way which would help them raise her right. That, along with the fact that her family consisted of all of the Avengers, made Loki feel a lot better. Of course the plan was to return to Dagny after a few weeks to live there, but they'd return to visit every now and again.

After about an hour, En still held Frigga in his arms, watching her sleep. Both Loki and Frigga were now sleeping, Loki completely worn out. This gave En time with Frigga, which he wasn't about to complain about. He'd already fed her out of her first bottle. The new father smiled, caressing her head gently. Her hair was soft as the down of a bird. He loved everything about her already. He couldn't wait to devote his all as a father to her. Sleipnir was right there on the couch with En, looking at his little sister in curiosity, smiling because he was a proud big brother.

“She's so pretty..” Sleipnir whispered up to En and En nodded in response.

“She is. She's pretty like your mommy.” En replied with a soft smile. Sleipnir grinned at that. He knew his mom was beautiful.

That was when Thor and Taneleer entered the room. They were ready to see their beautiful goddaughter. Thor smiled happily as he saw the little baby sound asleep in En’s arms.

“Can I hold her?” Thor asked softly. En happily obliged, handing her off to Thor as gingerly as possible. The thunder god smiled warmly, gently rocking her in his arms.

“Sweet little Frigga. May the Norns bless you.” Thor murmured. She was wrapped up in a cute little blue blanket with stars on it. En could already see a galaxy nursery coming into fruition. Taneleer stood beside Thor, waiting his turn to hold the baby. He couldn't help but laugh softly as he saw the white hair.

“She's got our hair, En.” Tan motioned to both of their white heads of hair, smiling at En who grinned a little in return.
Thor was in such awe. He could remember the first time he'd seen Sleipnir. This was like that time, but more joyous. He knew that Frigga would grow to make their mother proud.

Taneleer held her next, smiling as she wiggled in her sleep a little, yawning as she fell back into her deep sleep.

“If I could collect all of the stars for you, my dear, I would.” He murmured. Taneleer hadn’t had that much of a family, but now he did, and it made him so happy. He truly would be the one to spoil her. He'd already found things for later on in her life such as powerful spell books and literature. He couldn't wait to see what her future held.

*********************************

After a few weeks, everyone had seen the baby and cooed over her, especially En and Loki. She was really good for the most part, not making a big fuss about much, only when she needed the necessities.

In other developments, Steve and Tony had officially gotten the time to go on a date. It had been a bit awkward at first because they hadn't know what to expect or how to act, but acting natural had really paid off. They stuck close to each other and were very happy. Steve opened up more, becoming a more relaxed person. They hadn't told anyone yet either, but they'd already shared a kiss. It was like years of their relationship as work friends finally paid off.

Pepper found someone as well. She'd been seeing an Agent from SHIELD who had been one of the good guys when it disbanded. His name was Ryan and he was good to her. She still worked for Tony as an assistant, but she'd come to terms with only remaining his assistant.

Bruce was finally warming up to En and Loki, especially after holding Frigga. For a few of the Avengers, it had taken that long to trust them. They'd always thought that En and Loki were plotting something and that the pregnancy was a ploy, but it wasn't.

So when it came time for En and Loki to depart with Sleipnir and Frigga, everyone got a bit misty-eyed. It was finally time for them to head to Dagny. Thor also had to go. He'd be a ruler over the people, but he wanted En and Loki to rule in his place when he couldn't be around. It was perfect. They would all live in the palace. Even En convince Taneleer to come along. He would have somewhat of a second home on Dagny.

When they'd gotten there, Loki holding Frigga in his arms, the whole of Asgard had thrown them a welcoming party. Loki thought he might cry. Sleipnir ran up to Heimdall and hugged him tightly. The guardian had been good to Sleipnir while En and Loki had fought off Thanos. Three thrones sat at the front of the throne room, awaiting their owners. Of course there would be a feast and probably a week long party, but it would be fun this time. Loki had always hated the parties because of how he'd been treated, but now he was in a different mindset.

Once the party had finally come to a close, En and Loki went to work on Frigga's room. The crib had been a navy blue, so it went perfectly with the galaxy theme they'd come up with. En had enchanted the ceiling to look like a true sky of stars, complete with a few wispy clouds. Everything was so gorgeous. They'd just put Frigga down for a nap and En led Loki outside to the garden out back. Loki didn't know he'd made one, so it was all the more special. There was a golden gazebo at the middle which had flowers and Ivy carved perfectly down the sides. Lilac and lavender flowers were planted all around. Loki teared up, burying his face in En’s chest as he held him tight. The flowers had been his mother’s favorite. She'd taught him his magic and combat training in the gardens of Asgard.

“How did you know?” Loki asked softly, his voice cracking because he was so moved by the gesture.

“I uh, I may have looked inside your mind. I hope you're not angry. It was just for this, I promise.” En assured him, holding him close.

“Of course I'm not. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me..” Loki managed to get out, his arms wrapped tightly around his lover’s waist. “Thank you so much.”

“There is just one more thing. Do you think you can handle it?” En asked playfully and Loki nodded, a smile on his lips as he wiped the tears from his cheeks, slowly pulling away from En. En took his hand, then knelt down, pulling a small wooden box out of his robe pocket. He'd been wearing his Sakaarian best just for this occasion. Loki cupped his hands over his mouth in surprise, his eyes now even more teary.

“I know that a year in Terran time is almost nothing compared to how long we've both existed, but in that time, I've uh, I've never met anyone quite so exquisite as you. I want to be a great dad for Sleipnir and Frigga, and I want to be an even better husband for you, if you'll allow me the chance.” En spoke eloquently, something he'd obviously been working on for a while. He'd wanted it to be just right.

Loki managed to get out an excited ‘yes’ before practically tackling him onto the grass. They both laughed and En smiled up at him.
“That's a definite yes then, I take it?” En teased and Loki nodded, pressing his lips against En’s in a heated and passionate kiss before the Elder could say anything more. Sleipnir ran out onto the grass, a wide grin on his face.

“Did he say yes?” Sleipnir asked En with a big smile. En and Loki pulled apart, a big smile on both of their faces.

“Yes. Yes I did.” Loki answered his question and Sleipnir cheered.

“Yay! I knew you would..” Sleipnir smiled and hugged them both once they'd stood back up and composed themselves. It was then that En slipped the ring onto Loki’s finger. His half was half of a golden sun with a diamond in the middle and En pulled his own ring out of his pocket, sliding his onto his own finger as well. His was a golden band with a crescent moon to complete Loki’s ring. It was perfect to top off everything. Loki would have said yes if En had just asked without a ring. He didn't know if En would go with the tradition of he Æsier or the Terrans but he was happy to marry En regardless. He was sure that the wedding would be a huge celebration. Everything on Asgard had always been and now everything on Dagny would be too. The murals on the ceiling now told the true stories of Asgard. The painting in the middle now had En, Loki, Thor, Sleipnir, and Frigga painted there. It would have to be updated eventually, but it was so perfect. There was also a patch of ceiling dedicated to Odin and Frigga.

They started living a blissful life on Dagny, enjoying the simple life of not having to worry about if Thanos was coming to get them. Loki loved being in En’s company. They'd already decided that they would travel the universe together. It was settled. When Thor came back to rule for a while and relieve them of their duties, they were going to hop on En’s ship with the kids and travel. It had always been Loki’s lifelong dream to traverse the nine realms, and now that there were endless possibilities? He couldn't wait. It was going to be everything they wanted it to be and more. In fact, it already was. Loki never thought in his wildest dreams that he would run off with someone who was older than most planets on some wild journey together.

The wedding day approached quicker than they thought. Frigga was already crawling and babbling and Sleipnir was already starting school with Heimdall. The guardian had taken it upon himself to teach Sleipnir everything that he'd ever need to know, including combat and history. Loki wanted to teach him magic, but they'd both agreed to wait a while until he was slightly older for that.

As En and Loki stood with their hands together in front of all of Asgard, Loki couldn't help but smile. En returned his smile with one of his own as the Æsier man stood in front of them, reading the Asgardian vows. They'd ultimately settled on an Asgardian wedding, mainly because it was such a beautiful process. There was magic involved and it was always so captivating. Loki was wearing his royal attire, En in his more fancy Sakaarian garb. Loki had forbade him to wear sweatpants to the ceremony. Once they'd said their vows, En swept him in for a huge kiss. Everyone around them cheered. Thor, Taneleer, Sleipnir, and Frigga all were at one table. Taneleer held Frigga as Thor watched over Sleipnir. Sleipnir was a bit mischievous, reminding Thor of Loki when he was younger.

The newlyweds walked over to the reception table where they were, both beaming. En couldn't keep his eyes off of Loki and Loki was so enamored by En. Taneleer grinned over his mojito, looking at them both with an expression of amusement.

“We have some news to share. Loki asked that we wait until the end of the ceremony.” En explained and Loki blushed a little. He looked to the both of them and smiled even more.

“Well..” He started off, then put a hand to his stomach.

Taneleer’s eyes widened, getting the hint right off the bat. Thor also soon caught on and smiled.

“En obviously couldn't wait until the honeymoon part of this..” Loki rolled his eyes playfully for effect. “But En really loves kids and so do I, so we decided to have another one.” Loki explained, taking a seat at the table with the others. En sat beside him, a grin on his lips.

“Don't worry, three is enough for us. I'm sure we'll have our hands full with Sleipnir, Frigga, and the new baby as it is.” En assured them and Taneleer smiled.

“We’ll help out, brother, don't worry.” Taneleer nodded, glancing to Thor and then back to En and Loki. “That was a gorgeous wedding, by the way. I'm usually too.. erm.. inebriated to enjoy weddings, but yours was incredible.” En gave him a playful glare.

“Thank you. I'm glad you were amused. Loki was really what made it. He's erm.. gorgeous.” En smiled, wrapping his arm around Loki as he pecked his cheek with a kiss. Loki smiled as Sleipnir ran up to them, hugging them both. He hadn't gotten to be around them all day because of the wedding and he missed spending time with them. En picked him up, setting him on his lap.

“Have you been causing trouble? You haven't turned into a snake and stabbed Thor, have you?” En spoke teasingly and Thor furrowed his brows.

“Loki! You told him?” Thor asked incredulously and Loki gave him an innocent expression.

“I don't know what you're referring to.” Loki spoke, trying his best to hide a grin.

“If he stabs me, we’ll have another Ragnarok on our hands.” Thor chuckled, shaking his head.

“Bring it on.” Loki teased and looked at Sleipnir. “As long as that's the only ‘me’ thing that he does.” Everyone laughed softly at that one like it was in the past.

It's because it was. After the death of Thanos, everyone kind of moved past the ‘Loki being evil’ thing. It was mainly because of how much the Avengers had gotten to know him while he stayed with them at the tower. Of course he'd been a prankster and dyed Thor’s shampoo purple- which he ended up liking, so it didn't count- and he'd replaced Tony’s toothpaste with wasabi. Things like that got a good laugh and kept everyone in high spirits. He figured that if he would just behave and not try to take over the world that En could possibly create a world just for the two of them to rule. He could live with that.

Loki started off as the unworthy, wayward, and evil son a year previous. He had been thinking of only himself and his own pursuits when he'd arrived at Sakaar. With a simple caress of the cheek and Grandmaster calling him gorgeous. Taking time for himself to find love along the way while finding himself had changed him for the better. Now he was a caring parent to a son he'd neglected to be a mom to, a mom to a wonderful baby girl who reminded him daily of his mother, mom-to-be of another, as well as the husband to an amazing partner who he would give his life willingly for if need be.

*********************************************

In two months they had made arrangements to travel the universe. They'd gotten En’s ship together and equipped it with the necessities that they would need. All that was left was to say goodbye to Thor and Taneleer.

“It's not goodbye, forever,” Loki assured Thor as he held his brother tightly in a hug. “I'll be back before the baby is born. I wouldn't want you to miss anything like that.” Thor didn't want him to go. Now that his brother was back again, he was afraid to let go. Slowly, he did. He gave Loki all of his trust and a part of him had grown.

Sleipnir ran up to Thor and hugged his neck, burying his face in Thor’s shoulder.

“I'm gonna miss you, uncle Thor.” He murmured through sniffles.

“I know, buddy. You'll have a lot of fun though. Tell me some stories when you get back, alright?” Thor spoke and smiled warmly, hugging him.

Once everyone had boarded the ship and said their goodbyes, Loki took the co-pilot seat and En the pilot, Sleipnir settled in his seat and Frigga in her special flight seat.
Loki looked over to En with a slightly anxious, yet happy expression.

“Where to?” Loki inquired.

“I'll go wherever you're going.” En smiled.

Notes:

We've reached the end, my friends! It feels good. 67,000 words later and Loki gets a happy ending. Thank you to everyone who has supported this fic. Your support is the only reason I made it thousands upon thousands of words long. As always, feel free to comment or leave suggestions. Whats more is that I would love suggestions for more fics! What type of Frostmaster fics would you like to see? Maybe I could even do a little Reader x Jeff Goldblum perhaps. We'll see!