Chapter Text
Boy, I will be your sexy silk
Wrap me around, round, round, round
I'll be your pussycat licking your milk right now
Down, down, down
Oh, a kiss can last all night
You'll have to seduce me nibble and bite
But oh no
No, no, whoa, whoa, go slow
Baby, don't
Whoa!
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, boy, you're gonna win
Said yeah, yeah, yeah
You're under my skin
I've got butterflies within
Oh! I think I like you!
-"Sexy Silk" by Jessie J
It happened on a Tuesday. Because of course it did.
Let me back up first. Given that there were just as many threats to our world from other dimensions as there were from other planets, a smaller team of magic-users headed by Wong, the current Supreme Sorcerer, was formed six months ago. It was actually pretty fascinating as the call to action wasn’t just for those who practiced under Wong or Stephen Strange, but anyone with the abilities and affinity for magic could come and train and be ready to take on magic threats to the world.
And that’s where I fell into the picture.
Some magic is hereditary. Some people are just sensitive to it, but others can actually wield it. I had no idea why I’d been the one to inherit the magic that my maternal grandmother had been able to wield, but I did. She left me a spell book in her will that stated that on my eighteenth birthday, I’d come into my powers. She was right.
The short version was pyrokinesis and manipulation of heat and sunlight. I could create firestorms with a flick of my wrist after years and years of mastering the ability. It was brute force magic, basically, and though her spell book had many incantations and spells, fire and sun were all I could do some ten years after my abilities developed. When I heard about the Sorcerer Supreme’s call, I reluctantly decided to see if I’d be of any use and it turned out that they found it a useful skill. I was accepted and met with the other magic users. The idea was when we were needed, Wong would bring us in to fight a new threat. The threats could materialize anywhere, which was why he gave us a coin that would glow when there was trouble and then they’d transport us with a sling ring to wherever we needed to be. My fellow colleagues were from all walks of life with different skillsets and personalities.
And the one person who gave me the most trouble was none other than the God of Mischief himself, Loki.
The Asgardians had landed on Earth a couple of years ago and established a new home in Norway. Loki had decided to join up to give himself a more positive perception with the people of Earth, showing that he’d changed his ways and wanted to make up for his war crimes. Loki was also one of the most prolific magic users in our little society. I’d seen him perform incredible feats of magic without breaking a sweat.
But he was also an arrogant twat.
The first time we met, I’d been fine-tuning my fire blasts in a field away from the others, given that fire had a massive surface area that extended past the flames and I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I was working on distance since that could be a useful asset and the serpent had snuck up on me.
“Is that all you can do?”
I’d jumped like I’d been shot, whirling around to find the nefarious god hovering by my right shoulder, his hands behind his back, his grin smug upon realizing he’d scared me.
“No,” I blurted out. “I can control sunlight and heat as well as fire.”
“Mm. Rather rudimentary, I admit. Fire magic is unstable and takes years to master. How did you learn it?”
“My grandmother. She left me her spell book.”
“Interesting. Was she powerful?”
“Yes. There were a lot of urban legends about her where I grew up. She once saved forty people from a burning building.”
“Impressive.” His gaze flicked over to the stakes I’d stuck into the ground as makeshift torches. The exercise was meant for distance and precision—light the torches without burning the area around them. I’d been at it for twenty minutes with little success. I’d also laid a wet drop cloth around them to be sure nothing else would catch fire. “And do you follow in her footsteps?”
I blew a lock of hair out of my eyes, narrowing them at him. “I’m trying.”
“I believe there is a saying on Midgard: do or do not. There is no try.”
I burst out laughing before I could help it. Loki cocked his head and lifted an eyebrow. I waved my hands dismissively. “Sorry. It’s just weird hearing a demigod quoting a Muppet.”
“What in the nine hells is a Muppet?”
“The quote is from a famous film on Midgard called Star Wars. The character who said it is a puppet, sometimes called a Muppet because he’s voiced by Frank Oz, who is one of the voice actors of the Muppets and for Sesame Street. They’re an entertainment cultural phenomenon here on Midgard.”
“Your planet never ceases to amaze me with its ridiculousness.”
“Says the guy in that get-up.” I gestured to his intricate Asgardian clothing.
Loki frowned. “I am a prince.”
“Still doesn’t change the fact that you’re overdressed.”
He rolled his eyes. “I am not accepting fashion advice from a girl wearing yoga pants.”
I glanced at them self-consciously. “What? They’re comfortable and good for exercising.”
“If you say so, mortal.” He gestured to the stakes. “Well, go on then. I want to see what you can do.”
“No pressure,” I muttered as I turned around again. I raised my arm level with the stake on the left and concentrated, fingers spread, palm out. I let a blast of fire release in a long lance of flame. It stopped short of the stake by about three feet. I took a deep breath and planted my feet, trying again. The torch still didn’t catch fire.
“Mm. Perhaps talent skips a few generations.”
“Fuck off,” I snapped before I could help it. “I didn’t ask for your approval.”
“I see we have a short temper. Tell me, kitten, did your grandmother speak of the difference between fire and heat magic?”
I scowled at him. “Yes. And?”
Loki reached out with his right hand and snapped. A green spark appeared on the right stake, setting it on fire. “You’re thinking too hard. It’s not about reaching the distance between you and your target. If you can control heat, then you need to concentrate on that instead of reaching it with the flames. Brute force is not always the answer. Subtle magic has its place.”
“Because you know all about being subtle,” I said as dryly as possible.
“You’d be surprised, pet. Try again.”
I tried not to mutter insults under my breath as I faced the left stake and concentrated on creating a spark at this distance. It wasn’t easy. Eventually, though, I managed the spark and it lit the torch, burning brightly in the afternoon sun.
“There. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to study the theory behind chakras as well. As I understand it, that can be how magic flows through Midgardians. Keep practicing. Maybe someday you’ll be an actual threat to someone.”
“Keep talking and it’ll be you.”
Loki gave me that vulpine grin again. “Are you threatening me, mortal?”
“I sure hope so.”
“I am more than certain you know better than to challenge a thousand-year-old god.”
“And I’m more than certain you know better than to walk up to a perfect stranger and mansplain magic to her.”
“I was merely offering advice.”
“As condescendingly as possible.”
He smirked. “Mm. Forgive me, darling. I didn’t know manners were so important here on Midgard.”
I snorted. “You’re a bloody prince. Yes, you did.”
Loki chuckled. “Touché. I’ll work on my etiquette if you work on your precision.”
I rolled my eyes. “Deal. Goodbye.”
I walked towards the stakes to put them out so I could keep practicing, but I heard the demigod still chuckling to himself as he walked away. Jerk.
It didn’t matter when we would get together; Loki always managed to find me and tease me about my abilities, as if I were a kitten being strung along. I tried not to let him irk me, but it was hard not to rise to the bait. He seemed to always know just how to needle me.
The incident happened three months after I’d met him. We’d been alerted to a magical threat in NYC—a burglary gone wrong. The cops had intercepted a woman going by the name of Circe, like the Greek legends of old. Four of us were sent out to apprehend her, which included me and Loki, because of course it did, and when we arrived, the sorceress had holed herself up in the lobby of the bank she’d just robbed. I was on perimeter duty, making sure she didn’t try to slip out and escape. Loki and the others were working on a plan to draw her out and interrogate about the missing cops.
While I waited, something odd happened. We’d blocked off the streets so nosy civilians wouldn’t butt in, so I was alone for the moment.
Until a frog hopped past me.
Then another. And another. Four more.
“The hell?” I muttered as the seven frogs formed a semi-circle around me, not doing anything other than croaking. Maybe some kid had dropped their science project? I didn’t recall hearing about New York City frogs being a thing.
The front doors of the bank blasted open with purple-hued force magic, which bowled over my comrades. I spotted the sorceress booking it to the right of the building and straight into a blind alley, so I hopped over the frogs—no pun intended, I swear—and raced after her. She turned the corner. I did the same and called up a wall of fire at the other end of the alley that led back onto the streets of New York.
“Hold it!” I barked. “Move another inch and I’ll fry you like a Thanksgiving turkey.”
Circe whirled around and sneered at me, a duffel bag full of cash under her arm. “You’re quite the nuisance, Firestarter. Looks like I underestimated you.”
“A lot of people do. It’s ‘cause I’m fucking adorable.”
Circe smiled toothily. “Not yet, but you will be.”
I opened my mouth to demand what she meant, but then I heard Loki yell my name from the other end of the alley. The split-second distraction gave Circe just enough time to fling a spell at me. It hit me full in the chest. Chaos magic enveloped from head to toe and then the world abruptly disappeared from my eyes.
Darkness. Noisy darkness. What the hell was going on?
I slowly came around lying to one side of a dumpster, groggy and disoriented. I could hear someone yelling, but my head hadn’t cleared yet, so I didn’t know who. I took some deep breaths and my vision eventually cleared. I moved from the side of the dumpster and saw Loki kneeling over Circe. Her arms were pinned to the ground with green telekinetic energy—Loki’s kind—and her face was bloodied and bruised. My colleagues had their arms around his shoulders, trying to pull him off of her.
“What have you done?” Loki snarled. “What have you done to her? Where is she?”
“Loki, that’s enough! This won’t bring her back.”
“By the Yggdrasil, if you don’t bring her back this very second, I will kill you, witch.”
“Loki!” Lydia, one of Wong’s students, said gravely. “She’s gone. I’m sorry, but she’s gone, just like the others.”
She who? Who was gone? I tried to get up, but my limbs didn’t work right for some reason, so I called out, “what’s going on?”
But I didn’t hear words.
All I heard was “mmrow!”
Wait.
What the fuck?
I glanced down at my hands. Nope. Not hands. Fuzzy black paws.
No. No fucking way. This couldn’t be happening.
I whirled around and looked for a reflective surface, finding a shard of glass near one of the trash cans.
And I saw a black cat with green eyes staring back instead of my own normal face.
Then it hit me. The frogs weren’t frogs at all. Those were the missing cops.
Circe…had the power to transform people into animals. That’s why she took that stupid supervillain name in the first place.
And the sorry little bitch had just turned me into a fucking cat.
I forced myself to concentrate through my panicking to reach for my fire magic, but nothing happened. Whatever she’d done to me, it blocked off access to my magical abilities. I was nothing more than a feline with a half-human brain.
“Get her out of here,” I heard Loki hiss. I whirled around to see my team members slapping our Stark Tech manacles around her arms and gathering up her stolen money. Loki was storming out of the alley with a hellish look in his eyes, so I darted in front of him and tried to communicate, but all that came out was, “Mmmmrrrrooooooooow!”
Loki paused, eyeing me in confusion. He tried to take a step, but I intercepted him each time. He huffed and rolled his eyes, attempting to keep going until I finally got fed up and jumped onto his back. He froze and grabbed me by my scruff, still irritated. “I do not have time for this, little one. Leave me be.”
I wriggled around in his grip and hooked one paw into his elaborate overcoat. He went to untangle my claws, then heaved a sigh as he stared at me, helpless in his clutches. I knew what Loki could do. I knew his magic. I had to find a way to communicate with him so he’d turn me back into myself or force Circe to do it. He was my only shot.
“You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?” the God of Mischief asked dryly.
“Rrow!”
He shook his head. Then he tucked me into his side, his long arm underneath my chest and belly, and headed for the Quinjet with the others.
On the ride back to the Avengers compound, I tried to think of the best way to get a message to him. Loki probably didn’t have a cell phone, computer, or tablet. I had paws instead of fingers, so I couldn’t write anything out. The best I could figure was to get to one of FRIDAY’s holograms and activate a digital keyboard to type out a message. And that was a tall fucking order in itself. If he decided to keep me instead of taking me to a shelter, he’d probably want to keep me in his room if he didn’t try to put me up for adoption and God only knows how I’d find access to FRIDAY from there.
What was odd was that while my colleagues seemed to assume Circe had murdered me, Loki seemed…angry and in denial. On the way to the Avengers compound, he demanded that they let him interrogate Circe about what she’d done to me. I sat there, absolutely floored at his behavior. I hadn’t thought Loki would give me the time of day, let alone be upset at my disappearance. Maybe I didn’t know anything about men after all these years.
We reached the compound and he carried me to his room, which was on the top floor and in a corner unit where I was sure no one would bother him. The deal he’d struck with Tony was he would do what amounted to community service and in return, they wouldn’t throw him in jail. He stalked down the hallway to his room and opened it with a bio-scan.
Inside, his suite was cool and dark. I spotted all kinds of furniture and decorations from Asgard and Sakaar both. It looked to be a one bedroom set up. He had an open living room and kitchen concept along with a single bathroom.
“Alright, little one,” Loki said as he gently placed me on the couch. “This is your home now. Don’t scratch anything. You are not to leave this suite, do you understand?”
I wanted to laugh. Apparently, demigods were a lot like humans in that they talked to their cats like they could understand English. He just happened to be right this time. “Mrrow.”
“Good.” He scratched under my chin and…oh boy. Maybe it was my half-cat brain, but it felt glorious. He smiled a little bit when he heard me start to purr. “There’s a good little kitten. Relax. You are safe.”
Once he’d had his fill of petting me, he flicked a hand and a couple of bowls appeared by the kitchen counter. Immediately, my senses picked up on canned tuna. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to eat cat food just yet. I hopped down from the couch and ate it. Food would help me think, at least.
Loki disappeared into his bedroom, though obviously he didn’t close the door. I finished my food and began exploring, trying to work out if FRIDAY could be activated from here. At last, I spotted one of Stark’s little ceiling mounted projection bulbs in the kitchen, but it wouldn’t do much good to meow at it. I’d have to wait and see if Loki would use her and then I could give it a try.
“Hungry, weren’t you?”
I nearly jumped as Loki spoke from behind me. I turned to see him shirtless with a hand towel around his neck, dressed in just silk pajama pants. Fuck me. His chest absolutely rippled with muscles. I hadn’t known all of that was hiding under his armor.
“You have good timing, you know,” he said as he stroked down my back. “I lost someone today. We were never friends, mind you, but…I was getting used to her. Maybe even a bit fond of her, really.”
He swallowed hard. “The others said she’s gone, but I don’t believe them. I’d have felt it, I think, if she were gone for good. I’m going to make sure that witch pays for what she’s done.”
If a cat could gawk, I’d have done it. Loki…liked me? Enough to be upset that he thought I was dead or missing? How the hell had I misread our relationship so badly?
Loki sighed. “But I suppose that’s not your problem, is it? I need to come up with a name for you.”
Just then, someone knocked on the door to the suite. Loki’s eyes narrowed, but he went over to it anyway to answer it.
And the God of Thunder was the new visitor.
I’d never seen Thor in person before—he traveled a lot depending on what threats were menacing the city—and he seemed like a giant to my tiny cat self. He wore a black t-shirt, jeans, and boots, looking quite casually handsome as he strolled past his ornery brother.
“What are you doing here?” Loki asked with no small amount of annoyance as he shut the door so I wouldn’t escape through it.
“Stark sent me,” Thor said in that booming, resonant voice. “What is this about interrogating the witch that you caught?”
“She is responsible for the disappearance of one of my comrades,” Loki said, turning his back on Thor to head to the kitchen. He turned on a fancy electric kettle and rummaged around for some tea bags. “And I do not think the mortal authorities will be up to the task of getting her to talk.”
“I see.” Thor glanced at me. “Oh, when did you get a cat?”
“Just now,” Loki said dryly. “She wouldn’t leave me be, so I decided I’d take her in.”
Thor smiled at me and offered his hand. “Hello, sweetheart. Aren’t you adorable?”
I couldn’t help purring as he ran his big hand down my back and then rubbed under my chin lovingly. He scooped me up and held me in one tremendous arm, scratching behind my ears as he addressed his brother. “I understand your concern for your comrade, but that is not how they do things on Midgard. Their laws are different.”
“She is a criminal, is she not?”
“Yes, but your methods wouldn’t go over well if you were to interrogate her.”
Loki glared at him. “Is that not the method they were going to employ when I was imprisoned on that helicarrier?”
“Fury asked me,” Thor said. “And I said no. You are my brother and I would never do that to you.”
Loki snorted. “Never say never, Odinson.”
“I’m not here to fight. I want your word that you will not set foot in that interrogation room.”
“My word? You trust me now, is that it?”
“I’d like to, yes.”
Loki worked his jaw, then said, “You have my word I shall not set foot in that interrogation room. Happy?”
Thor shook his head. “I only want what’s best for you. It’s been a task already keeping them from trying to imprison you. I just don’t want there to be an incident, that’s all. I hope you find your friend.”
“She’s not my friend,” Loki said pointedly. “Just a comrade in arms as I said before.”
Thor eyed his brother, a faint, knowing smile on his lips. “Forgive me, but you seem more agitated than if she were just a comrade in arms. Are you—”
“As the most powerful being on that team, I am responsible for the lives of those who fight with me. Whatever happened to her went on during my watch. It is my failure. I want to seek justice for a crime, nothing more, Odinson. Are we clear?”
“If you say so. If there is anything I do to help, let me know.”
“I sincerely doubt I shall need your assistance. Unhand my cat and go home.”
Thor rolled his eye. “Ever the sourpuss. Pun intended.”
He lifted me up towards his face, beaming. “Goodbye, little darling. Take good care of my grumpy brother.”
The God of Thunder gave me one last scratch under the chin and then placed me gently on top of the couch. He nodded to Loki on his way out the door. The tension that had been in his shoulders relaxed as soon as the demigod left. Definitely an interesting dynamic to say the least. Thor seemed to want to be close to Loki, but Loki would have none of it. Maybe he disliked being vulnerable. I understood that all too well, having been on my own for so long.
“I see you took a liking to my brother,” Loki said, sparing me a wry look before scratching behind my ears. “Traitor.”
I nipped the side of his wrist playfully and it made him smile. Hell, had I ever accomplished that in my usual human form? Cats really are charming, I guess.
“Though I have no real room to talk,” the demigod said with a wry tone. “My brother doesn’t understand the delicate intricacies related to a lie. It works to my advantage, but you’d think he’d have learned by now.”
I cocked my head, confused. He must have noticed, for he gave me a reassuring pat. “Duplication casting, my dear. One of my many abilities to skirt around the promises my foolish brother imposes upon me at inconvenient times. Mark my words—I will get to the bottom of things with this witch whether the so-called Avengers like it or not.”
Oh, hell. He was going to project himself into the room with the witch to figure out what she’d done to me. While that was going to be a problem if he got caught, if he was indeed a formidable interrogator, she might crack and tell him what she’d done and he could fix it or he could strong-arm her into fixing it.
“But,” he continued. “That’s a task for the morn. Tonight, you and I will get acquainted with each other. Now then, what is it that these Midgardians make for cats? I think it’s called litter, right?”
He walked over to the entrance to his private bathroom and snapped his fingers. I trotted over to see a litter box between the toilet and the trashcan, already filled. “Let’s hope you’re housebroken or this is going to be quite a long week.”
Oh, the indignity. I’d have to poop into a box until further notice. I was with Loki in wanting that damn witch dead. If I ever got back to normal, I’d make her pay.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he fussed. “It’s not like I made up the rules for cats.”
He padded back into the den and scooped up a book. I decided to take the time to peek into his bedroom while I had the chance. Like the living area, it was decorated with beautiful and alien things I’d never seen before—types of precious stones, sculptures of indeterminable material, portraits of Loki and his mother Frigga, and books and parchment with fancy quills. The bed was enormous and had a black comforter and white sheets, neatly made. He had no television, but that didn’t surprise me. The room smelled of pine and earthy cologne. All in all, I kind of liked his style.
I wandered back into the den and accepted my fate, choosing to plop myself in his lap. It was warm and comfy along his upper thighs and he stroked me leisurely as he read, pausing every so often to have a sip of tea. I dozed off sometime later and woke up when he scooped me up, murmuring that it was bedtime. I expected him to leave me in the living room, but he didn’t; he brought me into the bedroom with him and gently deposited me on a pillow.
“There’s a good girl,” Loki said, stifling a yawn. “I’ll see you in the morning, little kitten.”
He shut his eyes, then seemed to rethink that and glanced at me again. “I suppose I ought to name you now, hmm?”
Loki studied me for a bit. “Ivy. Since you have such pretty green eyes. Good night, little Ivy.”
All I could say back was, “Mrrow.”
The god chuckled and closed his eyes again, drifting off to sleep in a short while, and as odd and scary as everything had been today, exhaustion took over and I followed Loki to sleep as well.